Attorney General Pam Bondy and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgham visited Alcatraz, the infamous prison island that Trump said he wanted to reopen.
Bondi, Bulgham Alcatraz Prison visits criticism
Attorney General Pam Bondy and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgham visited Alcatraz Prison.
Attorney General Pam Bondy visited Alcatraz on July 17, San Francisco Bay’s infamous federal prison island where President Donald Trump said he wanted to reopen to house the country’s “most ruthless and violent” criminal offenders.
Bondi toured the site long known as “The Rock” along with the secretary of interior Doug Burgum. During the visit, Minister Trump instructed staff to support the Republican administration’s rehabilitation and reopening plans, according to sources familiar with the issue.
“Alcatraz is a brand known worldwide for being effective against people in imprisoned homes,” Burgham said in an interview with Fox News. “Part of this is testing the feasibility of reverting to its original use.”
In his Truth Social Post on May 4, Trump said he was directing the Federal Prison Bureau, which is overseen by Bondi, to reopen and expand the prison that once housed the infamous mob boss Al Capone. The prison was closed in 1963, according to the department’s website.
“The reopening of Alcatraz serves as a symbol of law, order and justice,” Trump posted earlier this spring.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including San Francisco in the Congressional District, said before a July 16 statement it was a “repurposed tactic” that would distract Trump from what is called a “big beautiful bill.”
“This administration could possibly afford to spend billions to convert and maintain Alcatraz as a prison when it already adds trillions of dollars to its citizen debt under sinful law,” Pelosi said.
In addition to the declared plan to open prison island, the Trump administration was recently called the immigration detention center reopened at Florida’s Everglades, “Crocodile Alcatraz.”
According to the Federal Prisons Bureau, Alcatraz Island was opened to the public in 1973 and attracts more than a million visitors each year.
Contribution: Reuters
