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The White House appeared poised on Wednesday to dispatch numerous of government officers to the Bay Area region for a major immigration enforcement operation, prompting condemnation from local politicians.

Specifics of the Deployment

Information of the mission were gradually becoming clear, but it will reportedly involve approximately 100+ law enforcement personnel, as reported. The agents are expected to begin occupying the US Coast Guard base in across the bay, facing San Francisco. It was still uncertain whether military personnel would participate.

Official Reaction

The deployment is the result of months of warnings by the president to focus on the Democratic-run city. The state's leader Gavin Newsom criticized the move, labeling it “taken directly from the dictator’s handbook”.

“He deploys unidentified officers, he dispatches border agents, he sends out federal agents, he generates concern and apprehension in the population so that he can take credit for handling that by deploying the state troops,” he declared. “This is no different than the firestarter extinguishing the fire.”

Local Planning

San Francisco is the latest major city singled out by the federal effort of large-scale detentions. The mission is expected to trigger a standoff between the federal government and local leaders who have vowed to stop paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been gearing up for an extended period for Trump to fulfill repeated threats to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s city leader emphasized that the city was prepared.

“Over recent weeks, we have been anticipating the chance of a potential government operation in our city,” stated the official, noting that he had enacted new policies on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s protection of our newcomer populations, and guarantee our offices are prepared before any federal deployment.”

Legal Framework

Despite legal challenges to deployments in a multiple urban areas, including the Windy City, Oregon and Southern California, Trump has asserted “unquestioned power” to send the military forces in cities, pointing to the federal statute which allows presidents specific authority to dispatch personnel on US soil.

Public Response

Newsom, who previously served as San Francisco’s mayor – had vowed to step in “right away” to a deployment in the city. “The idea that the White House can deploy troops into our cities with no justification based on facts, no supervision, no answerability, no consideration of regional control – it’s a direct assault on the legal system,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including civil rights groups created during the initial federal leadership, have prepped to rapidly assemble a public demonstration in the city, as well as candlelight gatherings at community centers.

Local Effect

In San Francisco’s Mission district, a predominantly Latino community, city supervisor told reporters last week she and her residents had been anticipating this moment. “The time that people stop going to work, when anyone Black or brown can’t freely walk outside without the apprehension of national personnel racially profiling and arresting them, the point when students avoid classrooms, are too scared to go to the food market or physician,” she said. “Our ongoing preparations in the Mission is basically a shutdown the likes of which we have not experienced since the health crisis.”

National Guard Status

Approximately several hundred out of 4,000 California national guard troops stay under federal control under an directive from Trump. Approximately 200 of them had been dispatched to the neighboring state, where they were remaining in uncertainty amid a judicial dispute over their mission.

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