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The federal government was preparing on Wednesday to deploy dozens of government officers to the Bay Area region for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation, prompting condemnation from state officials.

Specifics of the Deployment

Details of the operation were still emerging, but it will allegedly feature approximately 100+ federal agents, as reported. The personnel are reportedly set to begin utilizing the Coast Guard facility in across the bay, opposite San Francisco. It was not confirmed whether national guard troops would join the operation.

Official Response

The operation is the result of weeks of threats by the administration to focus on the liberal city. California’s governor Gavin Newsom denounced the move, labeling it “taken directly from the dictator’s handbook”.

“He dispatches covered agents, he dispatches border agents, he sends out immigration officials, he instills anxiety and fear in the population so that he can lay claim for addressing that by sending in the military forces,” Newsom said. “This is no different than the incendiary extinguishing the inferno.”

City Planning

San Francisco is the most recent metropolitan center focused on by the administration's initiative of mass immigration arrests. The operation is expected to trigger a showdown between the administration and city officials who have pledged to block paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been gearing up for an extended period for Trump to make good on ongoing warnings to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s mayor emphasized that the city was equipped.

“Over recent weeks, we have been preparing for the possibility of a potential government operation in our city,” declared the leader, noting that he had implemented additional measures on Wednesday to “enhance the city’s support for our immigrant communities, and make certain our offices are prepared ahead of any government operation.”

Judicial Context

In spite of legal challenges to missions in a multiple urban areas, including Illinois, the Pacific Northwest and Southern California, Trump has asserted “absolute authority” to send the national guard in cities, referencing the federal statute which permits presidents specific authority to dispatch personnel on US soil.

Public Reaction

Newsom – who once held office as San Francisco’s chief executive – had vowed to take action “immediately” to a deployment in the city. “The idea that the White House can deploy troops into our cities with no valid reason based on facts, no oversight, no answerability, no respect for local authority – it constitutes an attack on the rule of law,” he said on Wednesday.

Public associations, including social justice nonprofits formed in the previous presidential term, have prepped to swiftly gather a mass rally in the city, as well as candlelight gatherings at local libraries.

Local Effect

In San Francisco’s Mission area, a mostly Latin American population, local representative stated to media last week she and her residents had been preparing for this situation. “The point that workers cease employment, when minority individuals cannot move about freely without the concern of national personnel targeting based on race and arresting them, the moment when parents stop sending kids to school, are too scared to go to the grocery store or doctor,” she said. “What we have been preparing for in the Mission is essentially a closure the likes of which we haven’t seen since the health crisis.”

State Troops Situation

About several hundred out of several thousand California state soldiers stay under federal control under an command from Trump. Roughly 200 of them had been transferred to the neighboring state, where they were staying in standby amid a judicial dispute over their assignment.

This period, Newsom said he had requested the state military personnel under his command to staff distribution centers throughout the government shutdown.