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The Trump administration seemed ready on Wednesday to send dozens of government officers to the northern California for a large-scale border security initiative, sparking criticism from California leaders.

Specifics of the Operation

Specifics of the mission were continuing to unfold, but it will reportedly involve more than 100 federal agents, according to reports. The officers are expected to begin utilizing the Coast Guard facility in across the bay, facing San Francisco. It was still uncertain whether national guard troops would participate.

Official Backlash

The deployment comes after weeks of statements by the president to focus on the Democratic-run city. California’s governor Gavin Newsom condemned the move, labeling it “taken directly from the authoritarian playbook”.

“He dispatches unidentified officers, he deploys border agents, he sends out ICE, he instills worry and terror in the neighborhood so that he can take credit for addressing that by dispatching the state troops,” Newsom said. “This is no different than the arsonist fighting the fire.”

Municipal Readiness

San Francisco is the latest large urban area focused on by the administration's initiative of large-scale detentions. The mission is likely to cause a standoff between the White House and city officials who have committed to prevent paramilitary operations in the city.

San Franciscans have been readying for an extended period for Trump to carry out repeated threats to dispatch personnel to the city. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, San Francisco’s municipal chief stated again that the city was ready.

“During this period, we have been expecting the likelihood of a potential government operation in our city,” said the mayor, explaining that he had taken further executive actions on Wednesday to “strengthen the city’s protection of our immigrant communities, and ensure our agencies are prepared before any federal deployment.”

Constitutional Context

Regardless of legal challenges to operations in a multiple urban areas, including Illinois, the Pacific Northwest and Southern California, Trump has declared “unquestioned power” to dispatch the military forces in cities, referencing the Insurrection Act which allows presidents specific authority to send forces on American territory.

Community Reaction

The governor, who once held office as San Francisco’s mayor – had pledged to take action “without delay” to a operation in the city. “The idea that the federal government can send forces into our cities with no justification supported by evidence, no supervision, no responsibility, no respect for regional control – it represents an infringement on the legal system,” he said on Wednesday.

Community groups, including social justice nonprofits established during the initial federal leadership, have organized to rapidly assemble a large protest in the city, as well as vigils at public spaces.

Neighborhood Consequences

In San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood, a mostly Latin American neighborhood, local representative stated to media last week she and her residents had been bracing for this situation. “The moment that workers cease employment, when minority individuals are afraid to go outdoors without the fear of Trump’s federal agents discriminating against and apprehending them, the time when parents stop sending kids to school, grow too frightened to go to the supermarket or medical provider,” she said. “The readiness efforts in the Mission is basically a halt the likes of which we haven’t seen since the health crisis.”

Military Status

Roughly several hundred out of 4,000 regional national guard troops remain federalized under an order from Trump. Roughly several hundred of them had been sent to Oregon, where they were remaining in uncertainty in the midst of a legal battle over their deployment.

This period, Newsom said he had summoned the local soldiers under his control to operate charity kitchens amid the federal closure.