Donald Trump is asking for $152m to restore Alcatraz, a former federal prison off the coast of San Francisco, according to a budget proposal released on Friday for the 2027 fiscal year.
Last May, Trump first called upon the Department of Justice, the FBI and Homeland Security to rebuild the prison. He heaped praise on Alcatraz’s reputation in a Truth Social post.
“When we were a more serious nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” he wrote then. “The reopening of Alcatraz will serve as a symbol of law, order and justice.”
The plan has been contentious. Several elected officials in California have questioned the feasibility and merit of such an undertaking.
At present, Alcatraz lacks water, power, gas and sewage systems, according to the San Francisco Standard.
California state senator Scott Wiener’s office estimated this week that rebuilding the property would cost over $2bn, KQED reported.
Last year, in an interview with CBS Sacramento, state governor Gavin Newsom condemned Trump’s vision as a “colossally bad fiscal idea”, adding: “Nothing about this makes any sense.”
On Friday, Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, said in a news release: “Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”
The administration would use the $152m to cover the first year of the restoration project’s costs, according to the budget proposal. If the plan were to advance, it’s unclear what the timeline for reopening the property would be.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
That figure is a part of a larger $1.7bn request to fund the Bureau of Prisons’ “crumbling detention facilities”.
The maximum security penitentiary housed some of the nation’s most notorious criminal offenders from 1934 until its closure in 1963.
Dubbed “the Rock”, Alcatraz’s location on an island made escape difficult but also made operations costly. The maintenance expenses spurred the facility’s closure, according to the Bureau of Prisons. It has since become a vaunted historical site that over a million tourists flock to annually.
