SAN FRANCISCO (TNND) — The U.S. Coast Guard is supporting operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents by providing a base in San Francisco to help efforts in tracking down immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
More than 100 CBP agents are arriving at Alameda on Thursday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the move by the Coast Guard, saying that the base of operations is going to provoke violent protests.
The Coast Guard, in a statement, said that “through a whole of government approach, we are leveraging our unique authorities and capabilities to detect, deter, and interdict illegal aliens, narco-terrorists, and individuals intent on terrorism or other hostile activity before they reach our border.”
Trump has deployed the Guard to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, to help fight crime across these cities. Los Angeles was the first city where Trump deployed the National Guard, arguing it was necessary to protect federal buildings and federal agents as protesters fought back against mass immigration arrests.
He has since said they are needed in Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon, as well.
Trump recently renewed his decision about sending the National Guard to San Francisco, saying in a Fox News interview Sunday that the city “was truly one of the great cities of the world” before it went “wrong” and “woke.”
The Coast Guard base in Alameda, which is hosting the CBP agents, is between Oakland and San Francisco, both sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with the federal government on civil immigration operations. A Homeland Security statement said the agency is “targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists.”
Editor’s Note:The Associated Press contributed to this story.