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The Trump administration seemed ready on Wednesday to deploy dozens of law enforcement personnel to the San Francisco Bay Area for a major immigration enforcement operation, sparking criticism from California leaders.

Details of the Deployment

Details of the mission were still emerging, but it will reportedly involve over a hundred federal agents, according to reports. The officers are expected to begin utilizing the military installation in Alameda, facing San Francisco. It was not confirmed whether national guard troops would join the operation.

Government Backlash

The deployment is the result of months of statements by the administration to focus on the Democratic-run city. The state's leader Gavin Newsom denounced the move, describing it as “straight from the authoritarian playbook”.

“He sends out covered agents, he sends out border agents, he deploys immigration officials, he instills concern and apprehension in the population so that he can take credit for solving that by deploying the national guard,” he declared. “This is no different than the arsonist fighting the blaze.”

Municipal Preparation

San Francisco is the most recent large urban area targeted by Donald Trump’s campaign of widespread apprehensions. The deployment is expected to trigger a showdown between the White House and city officials who have vowed to prevent militarized immigration enforcement in the city.

San Franciscans have been readying for weeks for Trump to carry out ongoing warnings to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s city leader emphasized that the city was ready.

“Over recent weeks, we have been expecting the likelihood of some kind of federal deployment in our city,” said the mayor, adding that he had taken further executive actions on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s protection of our immigrant communities, and make certain our agencies are prepared ahead of any national intervention.”

Constitutional Background

In spite of legal challenges to operations in a several municipalities, including Illinois, Portland and Southern California, Trump has declared “absolute authority” to deploy the state troops in cities, citing the Insurrection Act which allows presidents specific authority to dispatch personnel on American territory.

Community Preparation

Newsom, who once held office as San Francisco’s chief executive – had pledged to step in “immediately” to a deployment in the city. “The idea that the national administration can deploy troops into our cities with no legitimate cause grounded in reality, no oversight, no responsibility, no consideration of regional control – it represents an infringement on the legal system,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including advocacy organizations formed in the first Trump administration, have prepared to swiftly gather a public demonstration in the city, as well as candlelight gatherings at community centers.

Neighborhood Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a largely Hispanic neighborhood, elected official informed journalists last week she and her residents had been preparing for this situation. “The time that people stop going to work, when anyone Black or brown can’t freely walk outside without the concern of Trump’s federal agents discriminating against and arresting them, the moment when families keep children home, are too scared to go to the supermarket or medical provider,” she said. “Our ongoing preparations in the Mission is essentially a closure the likes of which we haven’t seen since Covid.”

National Guard Condition

About several hundred out of several thousand regional national guard troops continue under national command under an directive from Trump. About two hundred of them had been transferred to the neighboring state, where they were waiting in limbo amid a legal battle over their assignment.

This week, Newsom said he had called the state military personnel under his command to staff charity kitchens during the administrative stoppage.