Social media was flooded today 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 protection 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, OR.
The Oaklandside contacted federal law enforcement agencies, local and state officials, police, members of congress, and others seeking solid information.
Here’s what we’ve learned.
Asked about whether the U.S Customs and Border Protection Agency is sending agents to the Coast Guard base in Alameda for an immigration operation, Jaime Ruiz, a CBP spokesperson emailed the following statement:
“As the Secretary said on Monday, DHS is targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens—including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists—in cities such as Portland, Chicago, Memphis and San Francisco. As it does every day, DHS law enforcement will enforce the laws of our nation.”
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.
The SF Standard has also reported that a Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed the deployment, saying, “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.
State Senator Jesse Arreguín, who represents Oakland, Berkeley, and Alameda, issued a statement earlier today 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.”
Assemblymember Mia Bonta also responded to the reports of a major immigration operation: “To distract from his unpopular and harmful shutdown, Donald Trump is reportedly bringing his authoritarian theatrics to the Bay Area,” she said in a statement. “It is against our values as Alamedans to have our city used as a staging ground to inflict fear, terror, and state-sponsored violence across the Bay.”
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.”
The Oakland Police Department said it is aware of reports of a deployment of federal agents to the East Bay and directed questions to the mayor’s office.
Mayor Barbara Lee said aware of news reports that federal agents are being deployed to the East Bay. ‘Oakland remains a proud sanctuary city committed to standing with our immigrant families, and we are actively monitoring this situation and are in touch with our state and federal delegation,” Lee said. “We will notify our community with as much information as possible about any federal deployment.”
U.S. Congresswoman Lateefah Simon’s office 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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