Trump Wants USD152M to Restart Alcatraz Prison

(MENAFN) The White House has formally requested $152 million to resurrect Alcatraz — the shuttered island penitentiary in San Francisco Bay — as a fully operational, modern high-security prison, according to a report by media Saturday. The funding request forms part of the Trump administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2027.

The Alcatraz allocation sits within a far broader $1.7 billion proposed expansion of the federal prison system, a package the administration says is designed to raise staff compensation and resolve chronic personnel shortages plaguing US correctional facilities. The initial $152 million would cover preliminary rebuilding costs, with the broader project aimed at transforming the site into a contemporary maximum-security detention facility.

The island prison, which drew its final inmates in the early 1960s after federal authorities deemed it prohibitively expensive to operate, has since been repurposed as one of California's most visited tourist destinations. According to the National Park Service, the site currently generates approximately $60 million annually in visitor revenue — a figure critics say complicates the economic rationale for conversion.

Opposition from California's political establishment was swift and pointed. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not mince words in her assessment, calling the plan "absurd" and arguing that rebuilding Alcatraz would squander taxpayer funds while insulting the public's intelligence.

Broader skepticism from California lawmakers centers on both the projected costs and the logistical and structural feasibility of rebuilding a decommissioned island facility into a functioning modern prison.

The budget request now heads to US Congress, where it will require legislative approval before any groundbreaking can proceed.

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