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The federal government appeared poised on Wednesday to deploy scores of federal agents to the San Francisco Bay Area for a major immigration enforcement operation, prompting criticism from California leaders.

Specifics of the Operation

Details of the deployment were gradually becoming clear, but it will reportedly involve over a hundred federal agents, according to reports. The personnel are scheduled to begin utilizing the military installation in Alameda, opposite San Francisco. It was still uncertain whether military personnel would participate.

Political Backlash

The operation comes after weeks of threats by the administration to target the progressive municipality. Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move, labeling it “straight from the dictator’s handbook”.

“He dispatches unidentified officers, he deploys customs officers, he deploys federal agents, he instills worry and terror in the neighborhood so that he can claim credit for solving that by deploying the national guard,” he declared. “This mirrors the firestarter putting out the fire.”

Local Preparation

San Francisco is the most recent large urban area targeted by the federal effort of mass immigration arrests. The operation is anticipated to provoke a showdown between the administration and city officials who have vowed to stop paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been readying for weeks for Trump to fulfill frequent statements to send troops to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s municipal chief stated again that the city was ready.

“Over recent weeks, we have been anticipating the chance of some kind of federal deployment in our city,” stated the official, adding that he had taken further executive actions on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s assistance to our immigrant communities, and guarantee our agencies are prepared ahead of any federal deployment.”

Judicial Background

Regardless of judicial disputes to deployments in a number of cities, including Chicago, Oregon and Southern California, Trump has declared “complete control” to send the military forces in cities, referencing the presidential authority which permits presidents specific authority to send forces on American territory.

Community Response

Newsom, who previously served as San Francisco’s mayor – had vowed to step in “without delay” to a deployment in the city. “The concept that the federal government can dispatch personnel into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no monitoring, no responsibility, disregard for local authority – it represents an infringement on the judicial framework,” he said on Wednesday.

Public associations, including civil rights groups established during the first Trump administration, have organized to rapidly assemble a large protest in the city, as well as candlelight gatherings at public spaces.

Local Effect

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a largely Hispanic population, elected official stated to media last week she and her constituents had been anticipating this moment. “The point that workers cease employment, when minority individuals can’t freely walk outside without the fear of national personnel targeting based on race and apprehending them, the point when families keep children home, grow too frightened to go to the supermarket or medical provider,” she said. “Our ongoing preparations in the Mission is essentially a halt the likes of which we haven’t seen since Covid.”

State Troops Condition

Approximately three hundred out of 4,000 California state soldiers remain federalized under an order from Trump. About 200 of them had been transferred to Oregon, where they were waiting in limbo during a court case over their mission.

This time, Newsom said he had requested the California national guard troops under his control to manage food banks during the administrative stoppage.