San Francisco is preparing for a “massive ICE deployment” to imminently descend upon the Bay Area as part of the latest round of immigration and anti-crime enforcement efforts taking place in major cities across the United States, California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNN’s Omar Jimenez today.
Recent intelligence indicates immigration enforcement will be in the city in the coming days, Bonta said, adding that its unclear exactly when agents would arrive.
“We’ve only heard what the President has said,” Bonta added. “We take him at his word.”
ICE raids in Los Angeles earlier this year were quickly followed by the deployment of the California National Guard, Bonta said.
“It might be that the Trump administration will send National Guards, or at least attempt to, in connection with and in conjunction with the ICE raids that seem imminent in San Francisco,” Bonta said. “We don’t know for sure but we’re preparing for it.
A source familiar previously told CNN the newly-planned surge, which is expected to include a large complement of US Customs and Border Protection officers, could begin arriving in the San Francisco area on Thursday. Final plans for the deployment, including where agents may be assigned, have not been finalized and could be called off due to publicity in advance, the source said.
In response to CNN’s request for comment on the reported deployment, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency 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,” the spokesperson added.