Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Attorney General Pam Bondi Visit California’s Alcatraz Island as President Trump Calls for a Review to Explore Reopening the Prison
Credit: DOI

July 20, 2025 - Washington D.C. – Last week, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on the reported visit of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to Alcatraz announcing a plan to reopen the island’s federal penitentiary:

Related: National Parks Conservation Association Rejects Transfer Proposal for Alcatraz as President Trump Calls for a Review to Explore Reopening the Prison

“With stiff competition, the planned announcement to reopen Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary is the Trump Administration’s stupidest initiative yet. 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.

“Make no mistake: this stupidity is a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from this Administration’s cruelest actions yet in their Big, Ugly Law, which takes away food from children and rips health care from millions to give tax breaks to billionaires. It remains to be seen how this Administration could possibly afford to spend billions to convert and maintain Alcatraz as a prison when they are already adding trillions of dollars to the national debt with their sinful law.

“Should reason not prevail and Republicans bring this absurdity before the Congress, Democrats will use every parliamentary and budgetary tactic available to stop the lunacy.”
Source: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi