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The White House appeared poised on Wednesday to send scores of federal agents to the northern California for a significant crackdown on immigration, sparking criticism from local politicians.

Information of the Operation

Specifics of the deployment were still emerging, but it will allegedly feature approximately 100+ federal agents, according to reports. The officers are reportedly set to begin utilizing the Coast Guard facility in Alameda, opposite San Francisco. It remained unclear whether state soldiers would join the operation.

Official Reaction

The mission comes after weeks of warnings by the administration to target the progressive municipality. California’s governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move, describing it as “taken directly from the authoritarian playbook”.

“He dispatches covered agents, he dispatches customs officers, he sends out ICE, he instills anxiety and fear in the community so that he can take credit for addressing that by sending in the state troops,” he declared. “This is no different than the firestarter putting out the fire.”

Local Planning

San Francisco is the newest large urban area focused on by the federal effort of widespread apprehensions. The deployment is expected to trigger a showdown between the administration and local leaders who have vowed to prevent paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been gearing up for months for Trump to carry out repeated threats to send troops to the city. At a Wednesday media briefing, San Francisco’s city leader reiterated that the city was equipped.

“Over recent weeks, we have been expecting the chance of a potential federal deployment in our city,” said the mayor, adding that he had implemented additional measures on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s support for our newcomer populations, and guarantee our agencies are prepared before any government operation.”

Judicial Context

Despite judicial disputes to missions in a several municipalities, including Illinois, Portland and LA, Trump has claimed “unquestioned power” to deploy the state troops in cities, pointing to the Insurrection Act which allows presidents certain rights to deploy troops on domestic land.

Community Preparation

Newsom – who previously served as San Francisco’s chief executive – had committed to step in “right away” to a deployment in the city. “The notion that the White House can dispatch personnel into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no supervision, no accountability, no consideration of state sovereignty – it represents an infringement on the rule of law,” he said on Wednesday.

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

Neighborhood Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission area, a predominantly Latino population, local representative informed journalists last week she and her voters had been preparing for this moment. “The moment that employees avoid workplaces, when anyone Black or brown are afraid to go outdoors without the fear of government officers discriminating against and detaining them, the point when parents stop sending kids to school, become too afraid to go to the grocery store or doctor,” she said. “The readiness efforts in the Mission is fundamentally a closure the extent of which we have not witnessed since the health crisis.”

State Troops Situation

Approximately three hundred out of 4,000 state military personnel remain federalized under an directive from Trump. About several hundred of them had been transferred to the Pacific Northwest, where they were waiting in limbo in the midst of a judicial dispute over their assignment.

This week, Newsom said he had requested the state military personnel under his authority to operate distribution centers amid the government shutdown.