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The White House was preparing on Wednesday to dispatch dozens of government officers to the San Francisco Bay Area for a major border security initiative, prompting criticism from local politicians.

Details of the Deployment

Specifics of the mission were still emerging, but it will allegedly feature approximately 100+ federal agents, according to reports. The officers are reportedly set to begin occupying the military installation in Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco. It was not confirmed whether military personnel would join the operation.

Government Reaction

The mission comes after weeks of warnings by Donald Trump to focus on the Democratic-run city. The state's leader Gavin Newsom condemned the action, describing it as “straight from the dictator’s handbook”.

“He dispatches masked men, he sends out Border Patrol, he deploys 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 exactly like the arsonist putting out the blaze.”

Local Planning

San Francisco is the newest large urban area focused on by the federal effort of large-scale detentions. The deployment is likely to cause a standoff between the administration and city officials who have pledged to block militarized immigration enforcement in the city.

San Franciscans have been gearing up for weeks for Trump to fulfill ongoing warnings to send troops to the city. At a Wednesday public announcement, San Francisco’s municipal chief reiterated that the city was prepared.

“For months, we have been preparing for the possibility of an impending government operation in our city,” said the mayor, adding that he had taken further executive actions on Wednesday to “enhance the city’s support for our immigrant communities, and make certain our departments are organized prior to any national intervention.”

Constitutional Context

In spite of judicial disputes to operations in a several municipalities, including the Windy City, Oregon and Los Angeles, Trump has claimed “unquestioned power” to send the national guard in cities, pointing to the Insurrection Act which permits presidents limited power to deploy troops on American territory.

Community Response

Newsom – who once held office as San Francisco’s mayor – had committed to intervene “immediately” to a mission in the city. “The concept that the national administration can dispatch personnel into our cities with no legitimate cause based on facts, no supervision, no answerability, no respect for state sovereignty – it represents an infringement on the legal system,” he said on Wednesday.

Local organizations, including civil rights groups established during the previous presidential term, have organized to rapidly assemble a large protest in the city, as well as candlelight gatherings at local libraries.

Neighborhood Impact

In San Francisco’s Mission district, a largely Hispanic community, elected official stated to media last week she and her residents had been anticipating this situation. “The moment that employees avoid workplaces, when minority individuals can’t freely walk outside without the apprehension of Trump’s federal agents racially profiling and arresting them, the moment when parents stop sending kids to school, are too scared to go to the supermarket or medical provider,” she said. “What we have been preparing for in the Mission is basically a halt the likes of which we have not experienced since the health crisis.”

National Guard Condition

About three hundred out of 4,000 state national guard troops continue under national command under an command from Trump. Roughly two hundred of them had been transferred to Oregon, where they were waiting in limbo in the midst of a legal battle over their mission.

This week, Newsom said he had summoned the state military personnel under his command to operate distribution centers throughout the government shutdown.