President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he had called off a planned deployment of immigration agents in San Francisco, following urgent requests from prominent local tech executives and Mayor Daniel Lurie.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump revealed that the federal government had been preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco with federal agents on Saturday before being persuaded to reconsider. He mentioned he had received calls from friends in the area, including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who urged him not to proceed with the operation.
“I believe the surge would be a faster, stronger and safer way to remove criminals from the city, but the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, asked very nicely if he could be given a chance to turn it around,” Trump wrote.
Mayor Lurie also issued a statement confirming he had conversed with Trump the night before and stressed that militarized immigration enforcement in the city would disrupt ongoing initiatives to curb crime and address fentanyl use, while boosting economic activities.
“In that conversation, the president told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco,” Lurie explained.
The news about the proposed deployment of federal agents had triggered significant backlash from various California officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom.
Newsom criticized the planned federal action, calling it a “page right out of the dictator’s handbook” that aimed to create unrest and then provide the justification for deploying the National Guard.
“He sends out masked men, he sends out Border Patrol, he sends out ICE, he creates anxiety and fear in the community so that he can lay claim to solving that by sending in the [National] Guard,” Newsom said.
About 100 federal agents, including members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were reportedly en route to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Alameda base prior to the cancellation announcement. Earlier Thursday, demonstrators gathered outside the base, attempting to obstruct the entry of federal agents, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the plans for immigration enforcement in San Francisco, emphasizing that the focus would be on targeting the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens, including serious offenders.
Lurie has refrained from directly criticizing Trump since taking office ten months ago but made his stance clear against the deployment of immigration agents and military presence in San Francisco.
“Uncoordinated federal action undermines our work,” he stated. “Having the military posted in front of our schools, restaurants, and office buildings will hinder our progress and let chaos get in the way of our recovery.”
In response to the state of affairs, Newsom emphasized that California would take legal action if there were any attempts to send military forces into the city.
He reaffirmed his call for peace and urged residents to stay calm in the face of the federal agents’ imminent arrival.
“The Trump administration’s authoritarian playbook is coming for another of our cities, and violence and vandalism are exactly what they’re looking for to invoke chaos,” he expressed on X.
For weeks, Trump hinted that San Francisco would be among the next targets for National Guard deployment, following earlier deployments in Los Angeles and Chicago.
On Sunday, Trump stated on Fox News, “We’re going to San Francisco, and we’ll make it great. It’ll be great again.”
While Trump has pointed to rising crime rates as justification for military intervention, it is important to note that the National Guard is generally restricted from conducting law enforcement duties without a governor’s approval.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins clarified that the National Guard’s role would not legally entail making arrests or investigating crimes directly associated with the city’s pressing issues.
“I want to make sure that San Franciscans understand that the National Guard would not have any legal authority to make arrests or investigate crime,” Jenkins told NBC Bay Area.
Although Lurie acknowledged that the city still faces challenges, particularly regarding fentanyl use, he reiterated that the National Guard would not be effective at addressing drug-related problems or the open-air drug markets in the area.
He highlighted that San Francisco has made notable progress in reducing violent crime and significantly decreasing the number of tent encampments across the city.
As an example of crime rates, Trump remarked last month that cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles, under Democratic leadership, have become increasingly unsafe.
He also mentioned to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that using such cities as training grounds for the military and National Guard could be beneficial.
In a statement released Monday, the White House justified the deployment of troops in U.S. cities, citing crime reductions noted in locales such as Memphis and Washington, D.C.
The White House spokesperson, Abigail Jackson, pointed out the success of Trump’s previous actions in D.C., stating, “San Francisco Democrats should look at the tremendous results in D.C. and Memphis and listen to fellow Democrat Mayor Bowser and welcome the President in to clean up their city.”
Trump maintains direct command of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., because it is a federal territory. Yet, his authority to federalize troops for local law enforcement purposes lacks adequate legal foundation without approval from respective governors.
In the cases of Los Angeles and Chicago, the National Guard was mobilized for federal property protection during immigration protests. Meanwhile, in Memphis, Governor Bill Lee gave the green light for the National Guard to assist law enforcement in addressing urgent crime issues.
With Memphis reported to have the highest violent crime rate of any American city, the need for such measures has become a point of focus.
Governor Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, remarked that the city is now seeing its lowest homicides in sixty years and is experiencing significant economic growth.
“It’s one of the safest large cities in this country that’s experiencing an economic rebirth and growth,” Newsom concluded.
image source from：latimes
