An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons over the last few years, including widespread criminal activity by employees, dozens of escapes, the free flow of guns, drugs and other contraband, and severe understaffing that has hampered responses to emergencies.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was directing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison in the San Francisco Bay to "house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.

President Trump said Sunday that he was ordering the FBI to reopen the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the historic prison on an island off of San Francisco that has been closed since 1963.