No, former U.S. president Trump is not going to prison, just in case that’s what you were thinking. On the contrary, three Democratic senators have submitted a bill to rename the federal prison in Miami, Florida, after the ex-president.
On Friday, Representatives Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, and John Garamendi of California put forth the legislation. The bill says that all mentions of the Miami Federal Correctional Institution would be switched to the “Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution.”
Trump’s Legal Battles: Facing Criminal Indictments And Civil Lawsuits
Trump is facing four criminal charges amid his election bid for a return to the White House. He’s also handled multiple appeals after being found guilty in three separate civil lawsuits.
In June, he went to Miami federal prison for a hearing about his case involving federal classified documents. He’s accused of purposely hiding important information from his Mar-a-Lago estate during his time as president, facing 37 felony charges. Trump has said he’s not guilty of any of these accusations.
Help Us Make This Dream A Reality
Moskowitz stated that everyone knows President Trump loves to write his name in gold letters on all his buildings.
He added that Trump has never had his name on a federal building before and mentioned that as a public servant, he just wants to help the former president. “Help us make that dream a reality,” he pleaded.
Second Attempt By Democrats To Honor Trump
The Democrat’s recent proposed changes come a week after a group of House Republicans proposed a bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport—the biggest airport in the Washington, D.C., area—to “Donald J. Trump International Airport.”
The proposal, called H.R. 7845, was put forward on March 29 by Pennsylvania Congressman Guy Reschenthaler and six others.
Key Figures And Background Information
Charles Fleischmann of Tennessee, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Barry Moore of Alabama, Troy Nehls of Texas, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, and Michael Waltz of Florida are the other six GOP representatives who brought forth the proposal.
Dulles Airport is named after John Foster Dulles. Dulles was the Secretary of State during the Cold War under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1952 to 1959. He died at the age of 71 in the same year he resigned due to colon cancer.
A More Fitting Option
Connolly said in a statement on Friday that the proposal to change the name of the federal prison in Miami came as a result of the Republicans’ plans to change the name of Dulles.
“When our Republican colleagues introduced their bill to rename Dulles after Donald Trump, I said the more fitting option would be to rename a federal prison,” the congressman said.
No Reason To Wait
He said there was no reason to wait. Donald Trump was facing nearly 100 felony charges. He had been found liable for sexual abuse and, afterward, for defaming the victim.
He had been fined hundreds of millions of dollars in a civil fraud case. It was only fair that the federal prison closest to Mar-a-Lago should bear his name.
Most Fitting Tribute To Former President
Garamendi added in the joint statement that he could not “think of a more fitting tribute to our former president, Donald J. Trump, than renaming the closest federal prison to Mar-a-Lago in his honor.”
It’s the same prison where Peter Navarro, who worked for Trump’s White House trade adviser, is serving a four-month sentence for not obeying a congressional subpoena about the investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Proposal Draws Criticism From Democrat Lawmakers
A good number of senate Democrats in Virginia have derided their GOP colleagues over the past week for proposing H.R. 7845. Representative Abigail Spanberger wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the idea “is ridiculous, but sadly real.”
“Congress must act on pressing issues like reauthorizing the [Federal Aviation Administration] and passing the national security supplemental,” the congresswoman added. “Yet this is what a Member of House Republican leadership focuses on—renaming Virginia’s Dulles airport after Trump.”
Congressman Beyer Criticizes Trump’s Policies, Cites Travel Ban
Congressman Don Beyer criticized Trump’s actions as president in a message to X after the bill was announced last week. He mentioned that one of Trump’s initial moves as president was a ban targeting Muslims, which stopped permanent American residents from returning to the country.
This ban, known as the travel ban, was put in place shortly after Trump became president in January 2017. Beyer recalled that at the time, he “went to Dulles to try to help innocent people caught up in the chaos.”
More Responses On The Proposed Name Change
“I remember grandparents detained for hours as their terrified families waited,” he continued. “Those detained at Dulles and other U.S. airports committed no crime, they just happened to be traveling at a shameful moment for our country.”
Former Virginia Republican Representative Denver Riggleman also made a mockery of the bill as being “not” an “April Fools” joke, writing on X, “No sane [Virginia] rep would support it. If you want to ‘sycophant’ stick to your own damn airports.”
History Of FCI, Miami
In 1976, FCI Miami was used for young offenders, which is why it looks like a school campus and has a lake in the middle, making it unique among other federal prisons.
By the late 1970s, due to the large numbers of Haitian and Cuban immigrants coming to South Florida, the prison’s purpose changed to hold immigrants until their legal status was sorted out. Thousands of Haitians and Cubans, known as “Marielitos,” were held there from 1977 to 1981.
Change Of Name For Miami’s Prison
Because there wasn’t enough space, the government set up camps in and outside Florida to accommodate them.
Later, in the late 1980s, when Miami was dealing with drug problems, the prison’s role changed again. It became a place to hold people suspected of being involved in the drug trade. With this new focus came a new name, Metropolitan Correctional Center – Miami (MCC-Miami).
Zero Chance For Bill To Be Passed As Law
The bill to rename Dulles Airport after Trump was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure after introduction.
There is virtually zero chance for the bill to become law at the moment. Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the House, and Democrats control the Senate and White House.
