ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. – Scores of federal immigration agents are on their way to the Bay Area.
That’s according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which cited an anonymous source who said that over 100 agents were sent to the Coast Guard Base Alameda and will begin arriving on Thursday.
KTVU independently confirmed with an anonymous congressional source, along with U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon that federal agents are being deployed to the Bay Area.
The City of Alameda released a statement saying that the local police department will not be taking part in the federal government’s operation, adding the APD does not enforce federal immigration laws or related civil warrants. Â
The city also advised those who see ICE activity or who “need assistance” to call the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership at 510-241-4011 for rapid response and immigration legal services.
“Everyone has the right to peacefully protest, but we urge people to avoid direct interaction with federal law enforcement,” the city said. “The City of Alameda is committed to the values of dignity, inclusivity, and respect for all individuals, regardless of ethnic or national origin, gender, race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or immigration status.”
Newsom said this move by the Trump administration falls in line with what has been seen in other cities across the nation.Â
“California has seen enough,” Newsom said. “President Trump and Stephen Miller’s authoritarian playbook is coming for another of our cities, and violence and vandalism are exactly what they’re looking for to invoke chaos. Help keep yourself and your communities safe. Remain peaceful.”
What the Coast Guard is saying
In a statement from a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson, the agency said on Wednesday that the Alameda base is preparing to support Customs and Border Patrol agents beginning Oct. 22.Â
“This support of DHS agencies continues the Coast Guard’s operations to control, secure, and defend U.S. borders and maritime approaches,” the spokesperson said. The Coast Guard added that they would use their authority to “detect, deter, and interdict illegal aliens, narco-terrorists, and individuals intent on terrorism or other hostile activity before they reach our border.”
Across the Bay, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said his main priority is keeping San Franciscans safe.
“For months, we have been anticipating the possibility of some kind of federal deployment in our city. Our communities have already endured the painful impact of aggressive immigration enforcement,” he said. “At the same time, we continue to see escalated operations across the country with military personnel on the ground in cities like Chicago and Portland. For the last ten months, we have been taking steps to prepare for this kind of escalation here in San Francisco. And I want to be very clear, we are prepared.”
What Homeland Security is saying
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security underscored its commitment to targeting people in the country without proper documentation.
“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,” the agency said.
KTVU reached out to ICE and CBP and is awaiting a response regarding this week’s operation.
Coast Guard Island, an island in the Oakland Estuary between Oakland, Calif. and Alameda, Calif. This photo was taken Oct. 22, 2025, ahead of the expected federal immigration agent deployment in the Bay Area. (Jaden Schaul / KTVU)
Trump’s threats
The backstory:
President Donald Trump and his administration have long threatened to send federal agents and national guard troops into San Francisco and the Bay Area, as the federal government has done in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland.
In many of those cases, the National Guard was also sent in order to support immigration enforcement operations.
“We’re going to go to San Francisco. The difference is I think they want us in San Francisco,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. “San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world. And then 15 years ago it went wrong. It went woke.”
Trump has claimed that he can use the Insurrection Act to deploy the National Guard; the president can federalize National Guard members if there’s a foreign invasion, a rebellion or a danger of one, or an inability to carry out federal laws with “regular forces.”
Judges have already ruled that Trump’s previous deployment of National Guard troops in cities such as Los Angeles is illegal, but the rulings have not thwarted the president.
CA officials push back
What they’re saying:
Several San Francisco officials have condemned Trump’s threats, with City Attorney David Chiu announcing on Tuesday that he is prepared to take the president to court if he follows through.
“We urge the Court to uphold the bedrock legal principle that domestic law enforcement is not the military’s job,” Chiu said. “San Francisco has seen historic drops in crime, and our local law enforcement are more than capable of keeping our city safe while upholding First Amendment rights.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom also said California will immediately sue the Trump Administration if the National Guard is sent to the city, adding that Trump is “misleading the public with his false narrative that America, and especially California, is some lawless wasteland. But California is proving him wrong — in the courts and on the facts.”
On Tuesday, Lurie appeared before the Board of Supervisors, where Supervisor Jackie Fielder expressed her concerns over Trump’s threats.Â
“His comments about our city should not be taken lightly,” Fielder said. “And in the Mission we’ve been bracing for this moment, the moment that people stop going to work, when anyone Black or brown can’t freely walk outside without the fear of Trump’s federal agents racially profiling and arresting them. The moment when parents stop sending their kids to school, become too afraid to go get groceries or go to the doctor. What we’ve been preparing for in the Mission is essentially a shutdown, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Covid.”
Lurie said the San Francisco Police Department had a long-standing policy prohibiting officers from working with federal authorities to carry out immigration enforcement.Â
“It is not the role of local law enforcement to assist with military operations on our streets,” he said. “San Francisco has had policies like this in place for decades. They help foster trust between law enforcement and communities, and that helps keep our community safe.”
Lurie also said his office is in regular communication with immigrant rights groups to make sure they have appropriate resources.
Protesters gather
A small group of protesters gathered outside of Alameda’s Coast Guard Island Wednesday night ahead of the expected immigration operation.Â
The protesters have set up rocks on the road, which is the only driveable path on and off the base. The same protesters had set up cones earlier in the night. Those cones were removed by men wearing security vests.Â
At around 9 p.m., KTVU’s camera crews saw several unmarked vehicles driving on and off the base. There is no word of an official timeline for when this deployment will begin.Â
The Source: U.S. Coast Guard, congressional source, U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and KTVU reporting.