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The White House seemed ready on Wednesday to dispatch scores of law enforcement personnel to the northern California for a major crackdown on immigration, sparking condemnation from state officials.

Specifics of the Deployment

Specifics of the deployment were continuing to unfold, but it will reportedly include more than 100 law enforcement personnel, as reported. The agents are scheduled to begin utilizing the US Coast Guard base in Alameda, opposite San Francisco. It was not confirmed whether military personnel would participate.

Official Backlash

The operation comes after weeks of threats by the president to take action against the progressive municipality. The state's leader Gavin Newsom criticized the move, describing it as “taken directly from the autocrat's manual”.

“He deploys masked men, he dispatches Border Patrol, he dispatches immigration officials, he creates concern and apprehension in the population so that he can lay claim for solving that by sending in the state troops,” Newsom said. “This is exactly like the arsonist extinguishing the fire.”

City Preparation

San Francisco is the newest large urban area targeted by the federal effort of large-scale detentions. The deployment is likely to cause a confrontation between the administration and local leaders who have committed to block armed border control in the city.

San Franciscans have been readying for an extended period for Trump to carry out frequent statements to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday public announcement, San Francisco’s municipal chief reiterated that the city was equipped.

“For months, we have been expecting the chance of a potential federal deployment in our city,” stated the official, explaining that he had enacted new policies on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s support for our newcomer populations, and ensure our agencies are organized ahead of any federal deployment.”

Constitutional Context

In spite of court battles to operations in a several municipalities, including Illinois, Oregon and Los Angeles, Trump has declared “absolute authority” to send the military forces in cities, referencing the federal statute which permits presidents limited power to send forces on American territory.

Public Reaction

Newsom, who was formerly as San Francisco’s chief executive – had pledged to take action “right away” to a operation in the city. “The idea that the federal government can send forces into our cities with no justification based on facts, no oversight, no accountability, no consideration of local authority – it constitutes an attack on the rule of law,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including advocacy organizations created during the first Trump administration, have prepared to rapidly assemble a mass rally in the city, as well as candlelight gatherings at public spaces.

Neighborhood Effect

In San Francisco’s Mission district, a predominantly Latino neighborhood, local representative told reporters last week she and her residents had been preparing for this time. “The time that employees avoid workplaces, when people of color are afraid to go outdoors without the fear of national personnel targeting based on race and detaining them, the time when families keep children home, are too scared to go to the supermarket or doctor,” she said. “The readiness efforts in the Mission is essentially a halt the scale of which we haven’t seen since the pandemic.”

State Troops Situation

Roughly three hundred out of 4,000 state state soldiers remain federalized under an order from Trump. About 200 of them had been sent to the Pacific Northwest, where they were remaining in uncertainty during a legal battle over their mission.

This time, Newsom said he had called the California national guard troops under his command to operate distribution centers amid the government shutdown.