“This scenario has become increasingly and terrifyingly more real for thousands of our constituents over the past six days,” said Supervisor Jackie Fielder, whose district includes the heavily Latino Mission District. “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.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who sued President Donald Trump earlier this year for deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles during anti-ICE protests, also vowed Tuesday to sue again “in minutes” if Trump sends troops to San Francisco.
On Wednesday, Newsom ordered a National Guard unit to come to the Bay Area in order to support food banks across the state as the federal government shutdown continues. The move potentially limits National Guard personnel available for Trump’s deployment threats.
Trump has deployed the National Guard in several major Democratic cities this year, including Chicago and Portland, to follow and protect ICE agents during immigration enforcement. Details about any military following immigration agents to San Francisco have not been confirmed.
Lurie’s words on Wednesday marked a more defiant tone for the mayor.
“Uncoordinated federal action undermines our work. Having the military posted in front of our schools, restaurants and office buildings will hinder our progress and let chaos get in the way of our recovery,” Lurie said. “It cuts off families from income, keeps children from the food and social services they desperately need, and stops people from reporting crime and taking their loved ones to the hospital. This doesn’t make our city safer — it terrorizes our communities.”
Lurie, standing beside Chiu in his address on Wednesday, underscored that the National Guard does not have the power to make arrests or police the city’s fentanyl crisis and that local law enforcement cannot aid federal immigration enforcement.
But local police are also prohibited from interfering with federal ICE agents, who can make arrests.
The mayor did invite greater cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies to arrest drug dealers.
“We would welcome the opportunity to strengthen our partnerships with the FBI, DEA, ATF and U.S. Attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets. That’s the work we need to keep doing,” Lurie said. “A federal deployment of the National Guard can’t do that. They cannot arrest drug dealers or shut down open-air drug markets.”
