US President Donald Trump says he wants to reopen the famous prison Alcatraz. The prison is a rocky island San Francisco Bay. The jail was use between 1934 and 1963. It was used to house high-profile prisoners. These included the gangsters Al Capone and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Officially, no one ever escaped alive the prison. In 1973, Alcatraz opened to the public and became a tourist attraction. President Trump wants the island to return to housing dangerous criminals. Trump said: "Alcatraz represents something very strong, very powerful." He wants it to be a symbol law and order. He added: "America has been plagued vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders."
The USA's head border control, Tom Homan, liked the idea reopening Alcatraz as a prison. He said it could be "an option significant public safety threats and national security threats". However, some people think Alcatraz should not become a prison again. Hugh Hurwitz, a former acting director the Federal Bureau of Prisons, disagreed the idea. He told the BBC: "It's not realistic to think you can repair it. You'd have to tear it and start over." He said the island needed too many repairs and that some buildings are "literally falling apart". He pointed some problems. He said: "There are no security upgrades. No cameras. No fencing. You can't run a prison [ that]."
