OAKLAND — Federal agents who descended onto Coast Guard Island in Alameda this week for expected immigration raids have been called off for the entire Bay Area, officials said Friday, ending a chaotic 24-hour stretch of uncertainty and civil unrest.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said the planned operation had been “canceled,” a message she attributed to Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, who had spoken with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a day earlier.
“We’re not going to allow any outside forces to come here to create chaos,” Lee said at a news conference Friday. “We’re not taking the bait.”
It was a moment of clarity following a day of confusion and fear in the East Bay, where leaders and protesters alike had been unsure if President Donald Trump’s decision to withhold a federal deployment in San Francisco would extend to the rest of the region.
The Trump administration had ordered ICE, along with Customs and Border Protection, to Coast Guard Island, between Alameda and Oakland — an apparent staging area for expected enforcement raids within a 40-mile radius of the base.
Amid the skirmishes that ensued, federal agents fired a chemical agent toward a protester at near-point-blank range, and security personnel later opened fire on a U-Haul truck that had backed up toward a barrier on the island’s bridge, injuring the driver and an apparent bystander.
Police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been staying. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been staying. (Jane Tyska/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)
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Police investigate after shots were fired near the Coast Guard Island entrance in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard police opened fire on a U-Haul truck after it backed up a ramp at the entrance to the Alameda island, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been staying. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
The start-and-stop deployment punctuated the country’s tense political atmosphere, with Trump taking unprecedented steps this year to order federal troops to major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Portland.
Even after news of the cancellation on Friday, local law enforcement officials still could not say whether agents had left the Bay Area. Still, the revelation was greeted with a mix of relief and distrust by demonstrators who had fiercely rallied since Thursday morning at the entrance to the Coast Guard base.
“I’m hopeful that means they can see people are not going to allow them to kidnap and terrorize people,” protester Luca Yacón said. “We will not be terrorized by this administration.”
Although this specific federal operation appears to be over, the East Bay has dealt with ongoing ICE operations since Trump took office. Agents have arrested residents at their homes and in federal courthouses.
On Thursday, immigration authorities detained a Hayward resident near the Alameda County courthouse in Dublin, a local nonprofit that tracks ICE activity said on social media.
Protesters gather at the entrance ramp to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Coast Guard installed new safety barriers after a driver in a U-Haul truck was shot for failing to stop and reversing up the entrance ramp the previous night. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A protester sings Mexican songs as Coast Guard security stands guard at the entrance ramp to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Coast Guard installed new safety barriers after a driver in a U-Haul truck was shot for failing to stop and reversing up the entrance ramp the previous night. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Protesters gather at the entrance ramp to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Coast Guard installed new safety barriers after a driver in a U-Haul truck was shot for failing to stop and reversing up the entrance ramp the previous night. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A protester lays on the ground as Coast Guard security stands guard at the entrance ramp to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Coast Guard installed new safety barriers after a driver in a U-Haul truck was shot for failing to stop and reversing up the entrance ramp the previous night. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A protester waves a Mexican flag as fellow demonstrators gather at the entrance ramp to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Coast Guard installed new safety barriers after a driver in a U-Haul truck was shot for failing to stop and reversing up the entrance ramp the previous night. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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Protesters gather at the entrance ramp to the U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The Coast Guard installed new safety barriers after a driver in a U-Haul truck was shot for failing to stop and reversing up the entrance ramp the previous night. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Back at Coast Guard Island on Friday, demonstrator Kendra Urton she was skeptical that Trump would not change his mind about targeting Oakland and the rest of the Bay Area.
“I have no clue,” she said, “what’s going on in that man’s mind.”
Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, called off a planned “surge” in San Francisco scheduled for Saturday, hours after Border Patrol agents arrived in a fleet of vehicles to the island base and quickly began clashing with protesters.
For all of Thursday, it had remained unclear whether Trump’s decision to pull back from the city — the apparent outcome of conversations he held with wealthy tech titans, as well as with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie — also applied to the East Bay.
As uncertainty loomed, confrontations between demonstrators and authorities at the base grew more intense, culminating in the U-Haul shooting just before 10 p.m. Thursday.
The man driving the truck, who has not been publicly identified, was treated for injuries at a hospital and was in custody late Friday afternoon, according to the FBI, the agency investigating the matter. Protesters said they saw the man hanging around the demonstrations earlier in the day. When, hours later, he backed toward the bridge barrier, they shouted out warnings.
A U-Haul truck and several other vehicles block the entrance to U.S. Coast Guard Island in Oakland, Calif., during an anti-immigration protest on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Later that night, Coast Guard security officers opened fire on the U-Haul truck after it failed to stop and began reversing up the entrance ramp. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
“We were like, ‘You have to stop, just come back,’” said Jennifer Martinez, who recorded video of the shooting Thursday night.
Opponents of the immigration crackdown treated Friday’s developments as a victory, saying it provided new resolve to the Bay Area’s progressive stronghold — even if Trump ultimately reverses course once again.
“We outnumber them at the end of the day,” Yacón said. “And we will continue to grow and build momentum and resistance, so that we will not fall victim to tyranny.”
Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at smukherjee@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Originally Published: October 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM PDT