Trump wants $152 million to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz as a secure prison
President Trump is seeking $152 million to cover the first year of costs to reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison as a secure facility.
The funds, requested as part of the White House’s budget blueprint, would be part of a $1.7 billion proposed boost to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to improve pay and working conditions in hopes of ending a longstanding correctional officer shortage.
The White House released the budget proposal on Friday. It amounts to a funding wish list that is rarely enacted in full by Congress, but it provides insight into an administration’s priorities.
Alcatraz, located on an island off the San Francisco coast, operated as a federal penitentiary for nearly 30 years and housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the country.
It closed in 1963 “because the institution was too expensive to continue operating,” according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
It has served as a tourist attraction in recent years.
