The federal Bureau of Prisons is closing its Terminal Island facility near Los Angeles due to crumbling infrastructure and safety concerns.
The Associated Press reports that an internal memo reveals Director William K. Marshall III told staff Tuesday that the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island—a low-security prison with about 1,000 male inmates—will immediately suspend operations.
“The decision to close the facility is not easy, but it is absolutely necessary,” Marshall wrote. “We are not going to wait for a crisis. We are not going to gamble with lives. And we are not going to expect people to work or live in conditions that we would never accept for ourselves.”
Marshall cited deteriorating underground tunnels that house the facility’s steam heating system. Falling chunks of concrete in the tunnels pose risks to employees and the prison’s heating infrastructure, prompting the shutdown.
Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said the agency is taking “immediate action” to protect staff and inmates. She added that prisoners will be relocated to other federal prisons, “with a priority on keeping individuals as close as possible to their anticipated release locations.”
Terminal Island is the latest facility the Bureau has shuttered due to safety concerns. The agency has long struggled with chronic understaffing, a $3 billion repair backlog, and expanded responsibilities, including housing thousands of immigration detainees under directives from President Donald Trump.
In recent years, other closures have included six prison camps and a women’s prison in Dublin, California, plagued by sexual abuse. In February, the Bureau told Congress that 4,000 beds across its facilities were unusable due to dangerous conditions, including leaking roofs, mold, asbestos, and lead.
Despite these challenges, the Bureau is building a new prison in Kentucky and exploring the possibility of reopening Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, a site visited by Marshall, his deputy, and Attorney General Pam Bondi in July.
The agency also faces staffing crises worsened by a hiring freeze and ICE recruitment efforts offering bonuses up to $50,000. Marshall canceled the Bureau’s collective bargaining agreement in September, citing the union as “an obstacle to progress,” a move now challenged in court.
