Pelosi calls Trump's plan to reopen Alcatraz 'stupidest initiative yet' ahead of Bondi visit

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Trump administration officials landed in San Francisco Wednesday night, just hours from a highly-anticipated visit to Alcatraz.

The attorney general and interior secretary are expected to announce plans to officially reopen it as a federal prison.

State and local leaders are slamming the idea with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi calling it the President's "stupidest initiative yet."

Her office is expecting legislation in the House that would pave the way for Alcatraz to reopen.

The yet-to-be-introduced bill is expected to end environmental protections for Alcatraz and take away the National Park Service's control of the site.

A plane with the markings 'United States of America' is in the Bay Area, and arrived Wednesday evening with an entourage of officials. In fact, there was a police led motorcade that came with it.

RELATED: Trump says he will reopen notorious Alcatraz prison in San Francisco

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi's office confirmed that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will be at Alcatraz Thursday to announce plans to reopen the island's federal penitentiary.

In a statement, Pelosi called it, "...the Trump Administration's stupidest initiative yet," saying "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."

President Trump recently talked about renderings of a new facility. He first proposed the reopening in May and said this shortly after.

"It's a symbol of law and order!"

Here's ABC7 News insider Phil Matier.

"He wants to make a statement about being tough on crime. He said Alcatraz worked, but in its day. It's time to bring it back in order to counter urban crime. But this, make no mistake. This is a photo op. This is a publicity stunt. This is a tour in order to capture the image of them in San Francisco on Alcatraz declaring that Donald Trump is tough on crime, so tough that he's going to reopen The Rock," said Matier.

MORE: Tourists, politicians and former inmate sound off on Trump's proposal to reopen Alcatraz as a prison

California Governor Gavin Newsom's Press Office issued a statement saying, "Pam Bondi will reopen Alcatraz the same day Trump lets her release the Epstein files. So... never."

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie issued a statement saying, "There's no realistic plan to make Alcatraz reopen as anything other than the wonderful tourist attraction that it currently is..."

"It's now pretty much like an old ancient castle out there that tourists go to. Turning it into a federal penitentiary is going to take a lot of money and then operating. It's going to take a lot of money, but planning for it and showing drawings and making a statement about it. That's a lot cheaper, and that's what we're seeing right now," said Matier.

Alcatraz currently generates about $60 million in annual revenue, according to the National Park Service.

Refurbishing the island and building a new prison would cost at least a quarter of a billion dollars, according to estimates.