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The federal government was preparing on Wednesday to send dozens of federal agents to the northern California for a significant immigration enforcement operation, sparking criticism from local politicians.

Specifics of the Operation

Details of the deployment were gradually becoming clear, but it will allegedly feature over a hundred law enforcement personnel, according to reports. The personnel are scheduled to begin utilizing the military installation in across the bay, opposite San Francisco. It remained unclear whether military personnel would participate.

Official Backlash

The operation is the result of months of statements by the administration to target the progressive municipality. California’s governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move, calling it “taken directly from the dictator’s handbook”.

“He sends out masked men, he dispatches customs officers, he dispatches immigration officials, he instills worry and terror in the population so that he can lay claim for solving that by dispatching the military forces,” he declared. “This is exactly like the firestarter putting out the blaze.”

City Planning

San Francisco is the most recent major city targeted by Donald Trump’s campaign of large-scale detentions. The deployment is likely to cause a standoff between the administration and local leaders who have committed to block armed border control in the city.

San Franciscans have been preparing for an extended period for Trump to fulfill ongoing warnings to deploy forces to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s municipal chief reiterated that the city was equipped.

“For months, we have been anticipating the chance of a potential federal deployment in our city,” said the mayor, adding that he had implemented additional measures on Wednesday to “enhance the city’s support for our foreign-born residents, and ensure our agencies are organized prior to any national intervention.”

Judicial Framework

Despite judicial disputes to operations in a number of cities, including Illinois, the Pacific Northwest and LA, Trump has claimed “unquestioned power” to send the national guard in cities, referencing the presidential authority which allows presidents certain rights to send forces on US soil.

Community Reaction

Newsom, who was formerly as San Francisco’s chief executive – had pledged to take action “without delay” to a deployment in the city. “The idea that the White House can dispatch personnel into our cities with no justification supported by evidence, no supervision, no responsibility, disregard for state sovereignty – it constitutes an attack on the judicial framework,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including civil rights groups created during the first Trump administration, have organized to swiftly gather a public demonstration in the city, as well as peaceful assemblies at community centers.

Local Effect

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a largely Hispanic population, local representative told reporters last week she and her voters had been preparing for this situation. “The time that people stop going to work, when minority individuals can’t freely walk outside without the concern of national personnel targeting based on race and apprehending them, the moment when parents stop sending kids to school, are too scared to go to the supermarket or physician,” she said. “Our ongoing preparations in the Mission is basically a shutdown the scale of which we have not experienced since the health crisis.”

State Troops Status

About 300 out of several thousand regional state soldiers continue under national command under an directive from Trump. Roughly several hundred of them had been transferred to Oregon, where they were staying in standby amid a legal battle over their mission.

This period, Newsom said he had summoned the state military personnel under his control to operate charity kitchens during the administrative stoppage.