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The Trump administration was preparing on Wednesday to send dozens of federal agents to the San Francisco Bay Area for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation, triggering criticism from local politicians.

Details of the Operation

Information of the operation were gradually becoming clear, but it will reportedly include more than 100 federal agents, based on information. The personnel are expected to begin occupying the US Coast Guard base in the East Bay, facing San Francisco. It was still uncertain whether national guard troops would participate.

Political Response

The mission follows an extended period of statements by Donald Trump to take action against the liberal city. Governor Gavin Newsom denounced the decision, describing it as “straight from the authoritarian playbook”.

“He dispatches unidentified officers, he sends out customs officers, he deploys immigration officials, he generates worry and terror in the neighborhood so that he can lay claim for addressing that by dispatching the national guard,” the governor stated. “This mirrors the firestarter fighting the blaze.”

Local Planning

San Francisco is the most recent metropolitan center singled out by the administration's initiative of large-scale detentions. The operation is likely to cause a standoff between the federal government and municipal authorities who have vowed to block paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been preparing for weeks for Trump to carry out frequent statements to dispatch personnel to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s city leader emphasized that the city was prepared.

“Over recent weeks, we have been expecting the chance of some kind of federal deployment in our city,” stated the official, noting that he had implemented additional measures on Wednesday to “bolster the city’s protection of our newcomer populations, and guarantee our departments are organized before any national intervention.”

Constitutional Framework

In spite of legal challenges to missions in a several municipalities, including Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles, Trump has asserted “unquestioned power” to dispatch the state troops in cities, referencing the presidential authority which allows presidents specific authority to send forces on US soil.

Community Reaction

Newsom, who was formerly as San Francisco’s mayor – had pledged to intervene “without delay” to a mission in the city. “The idea that the national administration can deploy troops into our cities with no valid reason grounded in reality, no monitoring, no accountability, no respect for state sovereignty – it’s a direct assault on the judicial framework,” he said on Wednesday.

Community groups, including social justice nonprofits formed in the initial federal leadership, have organized to swiftly gather a large protest in the city, as well as peaceful assemblies at community centers.

Neighborhood Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission district, a mostly Latin American community, local representative stated to media last week she and her constituents had been anticipating this situation. “The time that employees avoid workplaces, when people of color cannot move about freely without the apprehension of government officers racially profiling and apprehending them, the moment when students avoid classrooms, are too scared to go to the food market or doctor,” she said. “What we have been preparing for in the Mission is essentially a halt the extent of which we haven’t seen since the health crisis.”

Military Situation

Approximately several hundred out of 4,000 California state soldiers remain federalized under an command from Trump. Approximately two hundred of them had been dispatched to the neighboring state, where they were waiting in limbo during a legal battle over their assignment.

This period, Newsom said he had summoned the local soldiers under his control to staff charity kitchens amid the administrative stoppage.