A Customs and Border Patrol officer at a recent event in San Diego. Credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Social media was flooded Wednesday with rumors of federal agents being sent to Coast Guard Island in Alameda to prepare for massive immigration sweeps. Then the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing a single, unnamed source “familiar with the operation,” that the Trump administration has deployed 100 federal agents, including Customs and Border Protection, to the Coast Guard Base in Alameda.
The New York Times confirmed the story after speaking with three people with direct knowledge of the operation, reporting today that Border Patrol agents are headed to the Bay Area as part of an immigration crackdown.
President Donald Trump’s recent threats to order the National Guard into San Francisco have had the whole region on edge, wondering if the Bay Area is about to experience the kind of chaos and violence that have accompanied similar actions in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and now Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
We contacted federal law enforcement agencies, local and state officials, police, members of congress, and others seeking solid information.
Here’s what we’ve learned.
So far, there’s no official confirmation that a major immigration operation is about to unfold in the Bay Area. But this could soon change.
A Coast Guard spokesperson, Petty Officer Graves, told The Oaklandside earlier today that Coast Guard facilities in Alameda are providing support to Customs and Border Protection, and he referred to an “operation” that’s underway. But he would not comment on that operation and said to contact CBP for more information.
“There’s no report I have yet of ICE agents being here,” Graves said about the Coast Guard’s Alameda base.
A Coast Guard spokesperson told the SF Standard, “Base Alameda is preparing to support CBP agents starting tomorrow as a place of operations.”
An ICE spokesperson declined to answer questions from The Oaklandside about what’s happening, and also referred us to CBP.
A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection acknowledged receiving questions our but did not respond.
State Senator Jesse Arreguín, who represents Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda, issued a statement earlier Wednesday confirming that a major immigration operation will soon begin.
“When similar deployments have occurred in other cities what we’ve seen are overly aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that lead to protests and civil unrest. The President and his goons then point to the unrest they themselves created to justify their tactics and even send in the National Guard,” Arreguín said.
Arreguín urged Oakland and Bay Area residents to be cautious and peaceful if they plan to protest the Trump administration’s operation. “This administration has put their playbook on display and are seeking to create chaos in order to justify additional federal deployments. Don’t take the bait.”
The city of Alameda issued a statement clarifying that its police department “is not a part of this operation, and APD does not enforce federal immigration laws or related civil warrants.”
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and U.S. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon’s offices did not immediately respond to questions from The Oaklandside seeking more information about the potential federal operation.
Rumors of some kind of large-scale immigration crackdown appears to have been first reported by a Youtuber who goes by “Hawk” on Wednesday. In a video, Hawk claimed to have spoken to someone with “close ties to the Coast Guard,” saying that 1,500 agents would be arriving at the Alameda Coast Guard base on Thursday, Oct. 23. Also on Wednesday, someone posted on Reddit that ICE and CBP were planning an “invasion” of the Bay Area. Those claims do not appear to be true at this time.
Local immigrant advocacy groups have been planning for stepped up federal operations in the Bay Area. The group Bay Resistance is hosting a Zoom training tonight at 6 p.m. where Bay Area residents can get training in rapid response, community safety, and legal observing and learn about a mobilization plan for the day federal agents arrive.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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