ALAMEDA — Federal agents clashed with protesters early Thursday ahead of a reported federal immigration crackdown set to start in the Bay Area, firing pepper spray and using their vehicles and to push through a train of marchers outside Coast Guard Island.
The confrontations came as protesters flooded the roadway along the lone entrance to the Coast Guard’s installation, where more than 100 federal agents were reportedly expected to arrive Thursday as part of the next phase of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration campaign. Masked federal agents in U.S. Border Patrol bulletproof vests forced their way through the crowd, as marchers held signs declaring “No ICE or Troops in the Bay,” and “Move ICE to get out of the bay.”
Jorge Bautista of Oakland, center, representing College Heights and the Presbyterian Church of San Francisco, is assisted by fellow demonstrators after being struck and pepper-sprayed in the face by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent after demonstrators blocked the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
“Get out the way, because once we go, we’re not stopping,” one masked agent told protesters before a vehicle started moving slowly through the crowd. “I’m telling you now, this is a warning. We’re not stopping.”
By 8:30 a.m., about a half-dozen vehicles carrying federal agents had made their way through the crowd. At one point, a small explosive device went off at the feet of several protesters marching through the roadway. At another moment, a demonstrator in religious garb was shot directly in the face with pepper spray, leaving his chin bloodied.
The clashes came even as San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie issued a statement shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday saying that the potential deployment of federal troops in San Francisco had been called off. Lurie said he learned of the development in a phone call Wednesday with Trump, where the president “told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco.”
Lurie said that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem “reaffirmed” that decision Thursday morning. It was not immediately clear if that shift in direction applied only to San Francisco, or to the rest of the Bay Area as well.
Reports emerged Wednesday that the island would be the staging area for some 100 federal agents who were to take part in immigration enforcement starting this week in the region.
Messages from this news outlet Thursday morning to the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were not immediately returned.
The Coast Guard, one of the six armed branches of the federal government, issued a statement Wednesday that said, “Through a whole of government approach, we are leveraging our unique authorities and capabilities to deter and interdict illegal aliens, narco terrorists, and individuals intent on terrorism or other hostile activity before they reach our border.”
In its own statement Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security did not confirm the reported influx of federal agents, saying only that 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.”
Outside the Coast Guard’s base, protesters called the arriving federal agents “Nazis,” and leaned on the hood of at least one of their vehicles.
One of the marchers, Rev. Laura Cheifetz, voiced concern that the influx of Border Patrol agents would force immigrants into hiding — making once-bustling community hubs go silent as at-risk families shelter from authorities. She feared that students would miss school, adults would avoid running errands and families would avoid their places of worship.
“All of this reminds me of this hysteria that is politically convenient for a few, and is devastating for generations to come,” said Cheifetz, a transitional executive presbyter with the Presbytery of San Francisco.
Cheifetz, whose own family was confined for being Japanese American during WWII, called the pending immigration crackdown “infuriating, not only as a religious leader but as a human.”
“These are people who are here just trying to make a life, and this external invasion of ICE officers is not something that we want, and we would like them to leave,” Cheifetz said.
Federal and state elected Democrats expressed disgust and opposition to the action.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Kevin Mullin, who represents South San Francisco and most of San Mateo County, released this statement: “Reports of a planned mass immigration raid in the Bay Area are an appalling abuse of law enforcement power.
Jorge Bautista, of Oakland, right, representing College Heights and the Presbyterian Church of San Francisco, is pepper-sprayed by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent after demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Jorge Bautista of Oakland, center, representing College Heights and the Presbyterian Church of San Francisco, is assisted by fellow demonstrators after being struck and pepper-sprayed in the face by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent after demonstrators blocked the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Anti-immigration demonstrators protest and block the entrance to the U.S. Coast Guard Island as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents arrive in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent pushes demonstrators away from the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Border Patrol agents yell at protesters blocking the entrance to U.S. Coast Guard Island, where more than 100 federal agents, including personnel from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are expected to arrive in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Anti-immigration demonstrators protest and block the entrance to the U.S. Coast Guard Island as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents arrive in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Anti-immigration demonstrators protest and block the entrance to the U.S. Coast Guard Island, where more than 100 federal agents, including personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are expected to arrive in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Anti-immigration demonstrators protest and block the entrance to the U.S. Coast Guard Island, where more than 100 federal agents, including personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are expected to arrive in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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Jorge Bautista, of Oakland, right, representing College Heights and the Presbyterian Church of San Francisco, is pepper-sprayed by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent after demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
“Broad sweeps that target families and terrorize law-abiding residents betray our nation’s values and waste resources that should focus on real threats to public safety,” they said. “It is important to note that California law protects communities and prevents federal agents from taking certain actions here that we have witnessed in other states. … We will not be intimidated by politically motivated fear tactics.”
Across the East Bay, a growing number of officials and elected leaders decried the federal agents’ arrival, while vowing to aid organizations throughout the community assisting migrants living in the area.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee planned to host a press conference Thursday morning, alongside U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon and several state assemblymembers.
Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez issued a statement vowing to “engage directly with community organizations serving our most vulnerable residents,” while Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia blasted the federal agents’ arrival.
“These federal actions undermine local authority, create an atmosphere of fear, and harm our communities by fostering distrust of government,” Gioia said in a statement.
Berkeley Mayor Adena Ishii and City Manager Paul Buddenhagen issued a joint statement vowing that the city “stands firm in protecting all of our residents and letting them know they are safe, regardless of their immigration status.” They also urged any protesters choosing to gather in the future to remain peaceful, given that “the federal government has already distorted local protests elsewhere to justify more extreme federal measures.”
This is a developing report. Check back for updates.
Originally Published: October 23, 2025 at 7:59 AM PDT