SF’s premier local newspaper confirmed that the city will see a hundred or so federal agents, including ICE agents and members of the National Guard, on Thursday.
After weeks of hinting at a possible federal agent deployment from the White House, The San Francisco Chronicle confirmed Wednesday that SF will receive at least 100 federal agents to address “rampant homelessness and drug use.”
Per the newspaper, the National Guard will use the military base in Alamada as an operational headquarters and temporary detention facility for those arrested; an increase in ICE activity is also expected to result in use of the facility as a conduit for deportations; the initial hundred federal agents could be joined by many others by the end of the week.
San Francisco’s imminent National Guard invasion — a textbook authoritarian act of wielding federal troops against a country’s own population — follows a growing trend of domestic militarization by the White House. Recent National Guard deployments have affected the American cities of Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Memphis, and war-torn Portland. San Francisco will become the second California city to receive National Guard troops under the guise of restoring law and order.
SF Mayor Daniel Laurie has come under fire for his lukewarm and vague action plan to protect San Franciscans from unlawful actions conducted by both ICE agents and incoming Federal Agents. SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has promised to counter all excessive uses of executive power with judicious actions, confirming that San Francisco will not allow the imprisonment of drug-related offenses perpetrated by federal agents. As of publishing, San Francisco still intends to sue the federal government when Trump’s deployment of federal agents descends on the city.
News of the National Guard coming to San Francisco comes just hours after Governor Newsom revealed he will deploy federal agents to staff local food banks amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Feature Image: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
