Trump calls off fed agent deployment to San Francisco
Donald Trump won’t send federal agents to San Francisco; The US president took a surprising step back as he pressured Democratic-led cities across the country to step up enforcement against crime and illegal immigration.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, a Democrat, told X on Thursday that Trump called him Wednesday night and told him he was canceling plans for a federal deployment. Lurie said the city will continue to partner with federal agencies in fighting drug crimes, but “militarized immigration enforcement” won’t work.
“We appreciate that the president understands that we are the global technology hub and that when San Francisco is strong, our country is strong,” Lurie said.
Trump confirmed the agreement in a post on Truth Social, saying the federal government was preparing for a surge in San Francisco but would cancel it.
“I talked to Mayor Lurie last night and he very kindly asked me to give him a chance to see if he could turn it around,” Trump said.
“The people of San Francisco have come together to fight crime, especially since we have begun to take responsibility for this very heinous issue.”
Trump had stated that San Francisco would be the next stop for the National Guard troops he would send to various US Democratic-led cities; These moves were challenged in the courts.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the Trump administration will send more than 100 federal agents to the city to step up immigration enforcement.
Despite the apparent standstill, a handful of U.S. Border Patrol vehicles arrived at a U.S. Coast Guard base in the Bay Area on Thursday morning and were greeted by hundreds of protesters.
While the demonstrators were carrying banners saying “Stop Kidnappings” and “Protect Our Neighbors”, one of the protesters banged on the window of a passing truck. Federal agents eventually used less-lethal rounds to disperse the crowd; Protesters said one person was injured by a bullet and another had his foot crushed.
Trump aims to deport record numbers of immigrants illegally in the US, portraying them as criminals and a burden on US communities. Democrats in major US cities have criticized the crackdown, saying it terrorizes law-abiding residents, tears apart families and damages businesses.
