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The White House appeared poised on Wednesday to deploy numerous of federal agents to the northern California for a large-scale border security initiative, sparking outrage from California leaders.

Specifics of the Operation

Specifics of the operation were gradually becoming clear, but it will reportedly involve more than 100 law enforcement personnel, according to reports. The agents are scheduled to begin using the US Coast Guard base in the East Bay, facing San Francisco. It was still uncertain whether state soldiers would participate.

Official Backlash

The mission follows weeks of statements by Donald Trump to focus on the Democratic-run city. Governor Gavin Newsom denounced the move, describing it as “right out of the autocrat's manual”.

“He sends out masked men, he dispatches customs officers, he sends out immigration officials, he generates concern and apprehension in the neighborhood so that he can lay claim for handling that by dispatching the military forces,” Newsom said. “This is no different than the incendiary fighting the blaze.”

Municipal Readiness

San Francisco is the latest major city singled out by Donald Trump’s campaign of mass immigration arrests. The deployment is anticipated to provoke a standoff between the federal government and local leaders who have pledged to stop paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been preparing for an extended period for Trump to make good on repeated threats to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday media briefing, San Francisco’s mayor reiterated that the city was equipped.

“During this period, we have been preparing for the chance of some kind of government operation in our city,” said the mayor, noting that he had implemented additional measures on Wednesday to “enhance the city’s assistance to our immigrant communities, and ensure our offices are coordinated ahead of any government operation.”

Legal Background

In spite of court battles to missions in a several municipalities, including Illinois, Portland and Los Angeles, Trump has declared “unquestioned power” to dispatch the national guard in cities, citing the presidential authority which permits presidents specific authority to dispatch personnel on domestic land.

Community Response

Newsom – who was formerly as San Francisco’s mayor – had vowed to step in “immediately” to a operation in the city. “The notion that the federal government can deploy troops into our cities with no legitimate cause based on facts, no monitoring, no responsibility, disregard for state sovereignty – it constitutes an attack on the rule of law,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including social justice nonprofits created during the previous presidential term, have prepared to quickly mobilize a large protest in the city, as well as peaceful assemblies at community centers.

Community Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a predominantly Latino neighborhood, elected official stated to media last week she and her residents had been anticipating this situation. “The moment that employees avoid workplaces, when anyone Black or brown can’t freely walk outside without the fear of national personnel racially profiling and apprehending them, the time when parents stop sending kids to school, grow too frightened to go to the food market or medical provider,” she said. “What we have been preparing for in the Mission is basically a closure the extent of which we have not witnessed since the health crisis.”

National Guard Status

Roughly several hundred out of 4,000 California military personnel continue under national command under an command from Trump. Roughly 200 of them had been transferred to the neighboring state, where they were waiting in limbo during a judicial dispute over their mission.

This week, Newsom said he had called the state military personnel under his control to manage charity kitchens during the federal closure.