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The Trump administration appeared poised on Wednesday to send dozens of federal agents to the San Francisco Bay Area for a major border security initiative, prompting criticism from local politicians.

Specifics of the Deployment

Details of the operation were continuing to unfold, but it will reportedly include over a hundred government officers, according to reports. The officers are reportedly set to begin utilizing the military installation in Alameda, facing San Francisco. It was still uncertain whether national guard troops would also be involved.

Political Backlash

The mission comes after an extended period of warnings by the president to focus on the Democratic-run city. Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the decision, labeling it “straight from the autocrat's manual”.

“He deploys unidentified officers, he dispatches border agents, he deploys ICE, he creates concern and apprehension in the population so that he can claim credit for addressing that by sending in the national guard,” he declared. “This is exactly like the arsonist putting out the inferno.”

Local Planning

San Francisco is the latest major city focused on by the federal effort of mass immigration arrests. The operation is expected to trigger a showdown between the federal government and city officials who have pledged to block paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been preparing for an extended period for Trump to make good on repeated threats to send troops to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s mayor emphasized that the city was ready.

“For months, we have been preparing for the possibility of a potential government operation in our city,” stated the official, adding that he had taken further executive actions on Wednesday to “enhance the city’s assistance to our foreign-born residents, and make certain our departments are prepared ahead of any national intervention.”

Constitutional Context

In spite of judicial disputes to operations in a several municipalities, including the Windy City, Portland and Los Angeles, Trump has declared “unquestioned power” to send the military forces in cities, pointing to the Insurrection Act which enables presidents specific authority to deploy troops on US soil.

Public Response

The governor, who was formerly as San Francisco’s city leader – had committed to take action “immediately” to a operation in the city. “The idea that the national administration can send forces into our cities with no legitimate cause supported by evidence, no supervision, no accountability, no respect for state sovereignty – it’s a direct assault on the legal system,” he said on Wednesday.

Community groups, including advocacy organizations created during the previous presidential term, have prepped to rapidly assemble a public demonstration in the city, as well as peaceful assemblies at local libraries.

Community Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission district, a mostly Latin American community, local representative told reporters last week she and her residents had been preparing for this moment. “The moment that workers cease employment, when anyone Black or brown cannot move about freely without the concern of Trump’s federal agents discriminating against and arresting them, the time when parents stop sending kids to school, are too scared to go to the supermarket or medical provider,” she said. “What we have been preparing for in the Mission is fundamentally a closure the extent of which we have not witnessed since Covid.”

State Troops Status

About three hundred out of four thousand California national guard troops continue under national command under an command from Trump. About two hundred of them had been transferred to Oregon, where they were waiting in limbo amid a legal battle over their deployment.

This period, Newsom said he had requested the local soldiers under his control to operate charity kitchens during the government shutdown.