SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are in San Francisco visiting Alcatraz Thursday morning and are expected to announce plans to reopen the federal penitentiary.
Back in May, President Trump started talking about reopening the site as a federal prison.
Congress is expected to introduce a bill to end environmental protections for Alcatraz and take away the National Park Service’s control of the site.
RELATED: Trump says he will reopen notorious Alcatraz prison in San Francisco
It’s already getting strong reactions from local leaders.
In a statement, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi called it, “…the Trump Administration’s stupidest initiative yet,” saying “It should concern us all that clearly the only intellectual resources the Administration has drawn upon for this foolish notion are decades-old fictional Hollywood movies.”
Alcatraz currently generates about $60 million in annual revenue, according to the National Park Service.
Refurbishing the island and building a new prison would cost at least a quarter of a billion dollars, according to estimates.
MORE: Tourists, politicians and former inmate sound off on Trump’s proposal to reopen Alcatraz as a prison
ABC7 News Insider Phil Matier weighed in on the plans and visit.
“He wants to make a statement about being tough on crime,” Matier said. “He said Alcatraz worked, but in its day. It’s time to bring it back in order to counter urban crime. But this, make no mistake. This is a photo op. This is a publicity stunt. This is a tour in order to capture the image of them in San Francisco on Alcatraz, declaring that Donald Trump is tough on crime, so tough that he’s going to reopen The Rock.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Office issued a statement saying, “Pam Bondi will reopen Alcatraz the same day Trump lets her release the Epstein files. So… never.”
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie issued a statement saying, “There’s no realistic plan to make Alcatraz reopen as anything other than the wonderful tourist attraction that it currently is…”
“It’s now pretty much like an old ancient castle out there that tourists go to,” Matier said. “Turning it into a federal penitentiary is going to take a lot of money and then operating. It’s going to take a lot of money, but planning for it and showing drawings and making a statement about it. That’s a lot cheaper, and that’s what we’re seeing right now.”
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