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The Trump administration appeared poised on Wednesday to send scores of federal agents to the northern California for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation, triggering criticism from local politicians.

Specifics of the Deployment

Information of the deployment were gradually becoming clear, but it will reportedly involve approximately 100+ law enforcement personnel, according to reports. The officers are reportedly set to begin using the US Coast Guard base in Alameda, opposite San Francisco. It remained unclear whether state soldiers would participate.

Political Backlash

The deployment is the result of an extended period of warnings by Donald Trump to take action against the progressive municipality. California’s governor Gavin Newsom denounced the action, calling it “right out of the autocrat's manual”.

“He dispatches covered agents, he deploys Border Patrol, he sends out immigration officials, he instills worry and terror in the neighborhood so that he can claim credit for solving that by dispatching the national guard,” Newsom said. “This is no different than the firestarter extinguishing the fire.”

City Planning

San Francisco is the latest major city focused on by Donald Trump’s campaign of widespread apprehensions. The operation is anticipated to provoke a showdown between the federal government and city officials who have pledged to prevent militarized immigration enforcement in the city.

San Franciscans have been preparing for months for Trump to make good on ongoing warnings to dispatch personnel to the city. At a Wednesday media briefing, San Francisco’s mayor emphasized that the city was ready.

“Over recent weeks, we have been anticipating the possibility of an impending government operation in our city,” said the mayor, noting that he had enacted new policies on Wednesday to “enhance the city’s protection of our newcomer populations, and ensure our departments are coordinated prior to any national intervention.”

Judicial Context

Despite judicial disputes to operations in a number of cities, including the Windy City, Portland and Los Angeles, Trump has declared “complete control” to send the state troops in cities, citing the presidential authority which allows presidents limited power to dispatch personnel on American territory.

Local Preparation

Newsom, who once held office as San Francisco’s chief executive – had pledged to intervene “right away” to a mission in the city. “The idea that the White House can send forces into our cities with no justification based on facts, no oversight, no responsibility, no consideration of regional control – it’s a direct assault on the legal system,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including civil rights groups established during the previous presidential term, have prepared to quickly mobilize a large protest in the city, as well as peaceful assemblies at public spaces.

Local Effect

In San Francisco’s Mission area, a largely Hispanic neighborhood, local representative stated to media last week she and her constituents had been bracing for this situation. “The point that employees avoid workplaces, when people of color cannot move about freely without the concern of government officers discriminating against and apprehending them, the moment when families keep children home, become too afraid to go to the food market or medical provider,” she said. “Our ongoing preparations in the Mission is fundamentally a closure the likes of which we have not witnessed since the pandemic.”

National Guard Status

Approximately several hundred out of several thousand California state soldiers stay under federal control under an order from Trump. Roughly several hundred of them had been sent to the neighboring state, where they were remaining in uncertainty amid a legal battle over their mission.

This time, Newsom said he had summoned the local soldiers under his authority to manage distribution centers amid the administrative stoppage.