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The Trump administration appeared poised on Wednesday to deploy numerous of federal agents to the Bay Area region for a significant immigration enforcement operation, sparking outrage from local politicians.

Details of the Deployment

Information of the operation were continuing to unfold, but it will reportedly include more than 100 law enforcement personnel, as reported. The officers are reportedly set to begin utilizing the US Coast Guard base in the East Bay, facing San Francisco. It was not confirmed whether national guard troops would join the operation.

Political Reaction

The deployment comes after an extended period of warnings by the administration to target the progressive municipality. Governor Gavin Newsom denounced the move, labeling it “right out of the dictator’s handbook”.

“He sends out covered agents, he sends out customs officers, he sends out federal agents, he instills worry and terror in the population so that he can lay claim for addressing that by sending in the national guard,” the governor stated. “This mirrors the firestarter putting out the fire.”

Local Readiness

San Francisco is the most recent large urban area targeted by the federal effort of large-scale detentions. The operation is expected to trigger a showdown between the White House and municipal authorities who have pledged to stop paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been gearing up for months for Trump to carry out ongoing warnings to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s mayor stated again that the city was equipped.

“Over recent weeks, we have been anticipating the chance of a potential government operation in our city,” declared the leader, explaining that he had taken further executive actions on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s support for our newcomer populations, and ensure our departments are coordinated ahead of any federal deployment.”

Constitutional Background

Despite judicial disputes to deployments in a several municipalities, including Illinois, the Pacific Northwest and Los Angeles, Trump has asserted “unquestioned power” to dispatch the military forces in cities, referencing the federal statute which allows presidents specific authority to deploy troops on domestic land.

Public Response

Newsom – who once held office as San Francisco’s mayor – had pledged to step in “immediately” to a mission in the city. “The concept that the White House can deploy troops into our cities with no valid reason based on facts, no supervision, no accountability, no consideration of state sovereignty – it constitutes an attack on the judicial framework,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including advocacy organizations formed in the previous presidential term, have prepped to swiftly gather a mass rally in the city, as well as vigils at public spaces.

Community Consequences

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a mostly Latin American community, elected official stated to media last week she and her voters had been preparing for this moment. “The point that workers cease employment, when anyone Black or brown can’t freely walk outside without the concern of government officers targeting based on race and detaining them, the point when parents stop sending kids to school, become too afraid to go to the food market or doctor,” she said. “What we have been preparing for in the Mission is fundamentally a closure the likes of which we have not witnessed since the health crisis.”

State Troops Situation

About several hundred out of four thousand California national guard troops stay under federal control under an order from Trump. About two hundred of them had been transferred to the neighboring state, where they were remaining in uncertainty amid a court case over their mission.

This period, Newsom said he had summoned the California national guard troops under his control to operate charity kitchens amid the federal closure.