By Busra Nur Cakmak
The Trump administration is preparing to send more than 100 federal agents to the San Francisco Bay Area for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, drawing a fierce backlash from California leaders.
Governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move as “right out of the dictator’s handbook,” accusing President Donald Trump of creating “anxiety and fear in the community” for political gain, in a video posted on the US social media company X.
“He sends out masked men, he sends out border patrol, he sends out ICE (immigration and customs enforcement),” Newsom said adding, “This is no different than the arsonist putting out the fire.”
In a separate statement, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said: “In cities across the country, masked immigration officials are deployed to use aggressive enforcement tactics that instill fear so people don’t feel safe going about their daily life.”
“These tactics are designed to incite backlash, chaos and violence, which are then used as an excuse to deploy military personnel. They are intentionally creating a dangerous situation in the name of public safety,” he added.
- Democrats claim crackdown on crime is a pretext
On Oct. 16, Trump suggested that the city of San Francisco could be his administration’s next target in what he calls its ongoing federal crackdown on crime.
Pointing out that many cities run by Republicans have higher crime rates, Democrats -- whose cities are being targeted -- say the crackdown is a pretext for “normalizing” sending troops to US cities for illicit purposes.
“I’m going to be strongly recommending at the request of government officials … that you start looking at San Francisco,” Trump told a news conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Every American deserves to live in a community where they're not afraid of being mugged, murdered, robbed, raped, assaulted, or shot.
“I think we can make San Francisco – there’s one of our great cities 10 years ago, 15 years ago, and now it's a mess, and we have great support in San Francisco,” he added.
Polls nationwide, and in California, show widespread opposition to Trump’s policy of deploying federal agents and the National Guard to US cities, with local leaders also standing opposed.
Trump so far deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, DC and is in the works to do so in Memphis, Tennessee. He also sent hundreds of US Marines to Los Angeles in June to quell unrest caused by his immigration crackdown.