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President Trump said, “I don’t know,” when asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he must uphold the Constitution to execute his deportation strategy.
President Donald Trump said on May 4 that he is ordering the Federal Bureau of Prisons to reopen Alcatraz, the infamous prison island in San Francisco Bay that closed more than six decades ago.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he wanted to reopen the prison to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
“The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE,” he wrote.
The prison was known for housing some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, such as Al Capone, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
It eventually closed in 1963 after operating for nearly 30 years, but was reopened to the public as a museum ten years later, according to BOP.
Here’s what to know about Alcatraz, including why it closed.
What is Alcatraz?
Alcatraz is an island in San Francisco Bay that was used as a prison from 1934 to 1963, according to BOP.
The island was discovered in 1775 by Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, who named it “Isla de los Alcatraces,” which translates to island of the pelicans. It was shortened and Americanized over time, which is how it became known as Alcatraz, according to the National Park Service.
It was used as a military fort from 1850 to 1933, during which military prisoners were also housed on the island, according to BOP.
In 1933, the Department of Justice took over Alcatraz to open a maximum security prison for some of the nation’s most dangerous criminals.
After 29 years of operation, Alcatraz was closed in 1963. It sat abandoned until 1969, when a group of Native American activists occupied the island and remained there for the next two years, according to NPS.
In 1973, the NPS opened Alcatraz as a public museum. It has more than one million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular national parks, according to BOP.
Why is Alcatraz famous? What the prison was like
Several of Alcatraz’s prisoners were well-known criminals, like Al Capone, George “Machine-Gun” Kelly and Robert “Birdman” Stroud. Many of the island’s prisoners were considered escape risks or violent and dangerous, according to BOP.
Prisoners were generally sent to Alcatraz when they would not conform to rules at other federal penitentiaries. However, despite its reputation, many prisoners preferred the conditions — such as having one man per cell — at Alcatraz compared to other federal prisons.
At Alcatraz, prisoners had a highly structured, monotonous daily routine. They had four rights — food, clothing, shelter and medical care — and other privileges, such as corresponding with family members, had to be earned.
There were 14 escape attempts over the years, though no one ever successfully escaped the island, in part due to its location.
Most prisoners spent an average of five years at Alcatraz. Once the prison’s officials felt that an inmate was no longer a threat and could follow rules, they were sent back to another federal prison to complete their sentence.
Why did Alcatraz close?
The prison on Alcatraz closed on March 21, 1963, because it was too expensive to continue operating, according to BOP.
It was nearly three times more expensive to operate Alcatraz than any other federal prison, in part because its physical isolation required food and supplies to be dropped off by boat.
The island also had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons had to be barged in each week.
At the time of its closure, Alcatraz needed restoration and maintenance work that would have cost about $3-5 million excluding its daily operation costs.
Melina Khan is a trending reporter covering national news for USA TODAY. She can be reached at [email protected].