In a move that’s certain to make waves, former President Donald Trump is seriously considering reopening the infamous Alcatraz prison to house America’s most violent offenders and even illegal immigrants. Once the setting of Hollywood blockbusters and notorious for housing the likes of Al Capone, Alcatraz represents the tough-on-crime ethos Trump is promoting. It’s a bold idea, resurrecting a facility closed since the 1960s, and it’s making people stop and think about what serious law enforcement could look like in America today.
To add spice to the notion, there’s talk from Trump’s DHS about offering money for self-deportation flights with a thousand-dollar stipend for those who take them up on the offer to leave. It’s a sweet deal that might make one reconsider their current housing in, say, the plush accommodations of the Roosevelt Hotel. It’s a quirky, but perhaps cost-effective strategy when considering the money saved on room and board. This approach could stir up a lot of laughter, but it by no means lacks creativity.
Our San Francisco correspondent, Greg Gutfeld, remarked about Alcatraz from his school days as a place meant to “scare students straight”—a notion that’s not lost on Trump either. The threat of being sent to such a remote and harsh place might give even the most determined lawbreaker second thoughts. It’s the kind of creative deterrence Trump is known for, painting a grim picture that competes with any Hollywood thriller to send a clear message: crime and illegal border crossing won’t pay.
Judge Jeanine weighs in with no less candor, applauding Trump’s move to include domestic terrorists and serial killers among those eligible for the island’s confines. The former judge fondly recalls sending offenders to high-security locations in her days on the bench and muses on how Alcatraz would make even a hardened crook think twice. With its cold, shark-infested waters and isolated setting, it’s almost like something Shakespearean—beautiful yet terrible.
The conversation inevitably circles back to efficiency and cost. Critics like Harold acknowledge the real estate’s uncanny beauty but are quick to point out the expense, wondering if it’s worth the price for taxpayers. Still, they back Trump’s willingness to try bold measures for bold outcomes when dealing with illegal immigration. In a landscape where legal maneuvers and court interference feel constant, Trump’s blend of directness and spectacle may just script a way forward. After all, if Alcatraz could put a serious damper on glamorous criminal endeavors back in its heyday, perhaps a revamped version could do the same today. Irreverently, but seriously, there may be something to this Alcatraz redux.
