Sam Levin in Los Angeles

Amid outrage over ‘far-fetched’ plans to revive Alcatraz, Trump is pushing to expand Ice detention to other closed lockups marked by scandals

Donald Trump’s proposal to reopen Alcatraz, the infamous prison shuttered more than 60 years ago, sparked global headlines over the weekend. But it isn’t the only notorious closed-down jail or prison the administration has sought to repurpose for mass detentions.

The US government has in recent months pushed to reopen at least five other shuttered detention facilities and prisons, some closed amid concerns over safety and mistreatment of detainees. While California lawmakers swiftly dismissed the Alcatraz announcement as “not serious” and a distraction, the Trump administration’s efforts to reopen other scandal-plagued facilities are well under way or already complete, in partnership with for-profit prison corporations.

As Trump dramatically expands detention, immigrants are moved to notorious penitentiaries where they report horrific conditions

The US government has jailed hundreds of immigrants in notorious federal prisons in a dramatic escalation of its detention practices, cutting people off from their attorneys and families and subjecting them to brutal conditions, according to accounts from behind bars.

Since February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has increasingly used Bureau of Prisons (BoP) facilities to incarcerate immigrants facing deportation, records show. The partnership between BoP and Ice, two agencies that have generally operated separately, means people accused of civil immigration violations are being imprisoned in harsh environments of federal penitentiaries run by prison guards.

Immigrants report moldy food, used underwear and ‘pandemonium’ as Trump dramatically expands detention

The US government has jailed hundreds of immigrants in notorious federal prisons in a dramatic escalation of its detention practices, cutting people off from their attorneys and families and subjecting them to brutal conditions, according to accounts from behind bars.

Since February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has increasingly used Bureau of Prisons (BoP) facilities to incarcerate immigrants facing deportation, records show. The partnership between BoP and Ice, two agencies that have generally operated separately, means people accused of civil immigration violations are being imprisoned in harsh environments of federal penitentiaries run by prison guards.