By Vanguard Staff
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — As former President Donald Trump once again floated the idea of reopening Alcatraz for immigration detention, California criminal justice advocates say the bigger danger isn’t on the island—it’s the state’s quietly maintained closed prisons that may soon return to use.
“Yes, we should take him seriously,” said Tannah Oppliger, an organizer and policy advocate with Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a coalition of more than 100 organizations focused on decarceration and reinvestment in community care. “But while the spotlight is on Alcatraz, the risk of ICE quietly reactivating closed prisons like FCI Dublin is going unnoticed.”
FCI Dublin, a federal women’s prison closed earlier this year following widespread reports of sexual abuse by correctional officers, has already been visited by ICE officials, according to CURB. Advocates say the federal agency is actively scouting locations for future immigration detention expansion.
Facilities like Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe remain in what’s known as a “warm shutdown”—officially closed but still funded, minimally staffed, and maintained. While Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature have taken steps to downsize the state’s prison system—closing three state prisons, ending a private prison lease, and deactivating multiple yards—advocates warn that without full closures, the infrastructure remains vulnerable to federal takeover.
“This is the moment to shut the door permanently,” said Dax Proctor, CURB’s statewide coordinator. “Every prison left half-open is one more opportunity for ICE to walk in.”
California has spent more than $300 million keeping non-operational prisons in warm shutdown, including $146 million at Deuel Vocational Institution, $87 million at California Correctional Center, and $81 million at California City in the three months following lease termination. Advocates argue that maintaining these shuttered sites drains state resources while opening the door to federal encroachment.
While Trump’s Alcatraz proposal was widely dismissed as a political stunt—experts note the island lacks basic infrastructure and would require more than $1 billion in upgrades, advocates caution against ignoring the underlying threat.
“We’ve seen this before—he floats something outrageous to dominate the narrative, then quietly moves forward while attention is elsewhere,” said Proctor.
CURB is urging state leaders to take immediate action: permanently close decommissioned prisons, prevent ICE or other federal agencies from reoccupying state-owned facilities, and redirect savings from closures into housing, education, and healthcare—sectors already facing cuts in the wake of federal budget rollbacks.
“The people working to fully close prisons and keep ICE out are protecting California’s future,” said Proctor. “Ending warm shutdowns and refusing to let the federal government build or take over prisons in our state is one of the clearest ways California can resist this administration.”
Honestly, Trump is going to have to deport more than a dozen or so gang members, if he’s going to fulfill his campaign promise. So yeah, he’s probably looking for temporary detention facilities.
It doesn’t seem like he’s going to be successful regarding mass deportations.