The Trump administration is requesting $152 million in its fiscal year 2027 budget to begin reopening Alcatraz as an active federal prison.
The funding, part of a broader $1.7 billion investment into the Federal Bureau of Prisons, would cover the first year of costs to reopen the former island facility into what the administration describes as a “state-of-the-art secure prison facility.”
Located in San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz operated as a federal prison until 1963 and is now managed by the National Park Service as a tourist destination. Originally built as a military fort, the island was later converted into a federal prison in the 1930s and once held inmates including Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. It has since become a cultural landmark and major tourist destination.
The proposal follows a post made by President Donald Trump on Truth Social in May 2025 directing federal agencies—including the Department of Justice, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security—to pursue reopening and expanding the facility to house “America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.”
Criticism has emerged from California officials and corrections professionals, who have raised concerns about both cost and practicality. Alcatraz lacks basic infrastructure, including running water and sewage systems, requiring all supplies to be transported by boat. By the time it closed, the facility was reportedly three times more expensive to operate than other federal prisons.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the proposal “absurd on its face,” arguing it would be a misuse of taxpayer funds and eliminate a historic landmark that currently generates an estimated $60 million annually in tourism revenue.
Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux also criticized the proposal, arguing that reopening Alcatraz would not meaningfully improve correctional safety.
“Trump’s new goal to reopen Alcatraz is nothing more than performative politics. It sounds tough. But it’s nothing more than optics and the illusion of being tough on crime or security,” Heroux said.
Heroux emphasized that correctional security is driven by staffing and internal operations, not geography.
“For people not familiar with the profession of corrections, security in a correctional facility happens on the inside of the secure perimeter, not outside,” he said.
He also questioned whether the proposed $152 million investment would produce any measurable improvement.
“For anyone who thinks that the extra $152 million expense to reopen Alcatraz will increase security, I argue that the added expense would be better spent on additional corrections officers inside existing prisons. That would drastically improve security and officer safety,” Heroux said. “From a corrections point of view, there is no additional benefit to security having inmates or detainees in Alcatraz versus any other facility. The only addition here is to the budget. Not to security. It’s expensive with no additional security.”
The budget request must still be approved by Congress.
