President Donald Trump mentioned Thursday that he’s backing off a deliberate surge of federal agents into San Francisco to quell crime after chatting with the mayor and several other distinguished enterprise leaders who mentioned they’re working onerous to wash up the town.
Trump had been threatening to ship the Nationwide Guard to San Francisco, a transfer Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom mentioned was pointless as a result of crime is on the decline. Individually, U.S. Customs and Border Safety brokers started arriving at a Coast Guard base within the area earlier Thursday for a potential ramp up of immigration enforcement, a transfer that drew a number of hundred protesters.
It was not clear if the president was canceling a Nationwide Guard deployment or calling off immigration enforcement by CBP brokers. At his information convention, Lurie mentioned he couldn’t make clear and will solely repeat what the president had informed him. Lurie mentioned Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem “reaffirmed” Trump’s dedication on Thursday morning. DHS oversees CBP brokers in addition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The Federal Authorities was making ready to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, however pals of mine who reside within the space referred to as final night time to ask me to not go ahead with the surge,” Trump posted on social media. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie final night time and he requested, very properly, that I give him an opportunity to see if he can flip it round.”
Particularly, Trump mentioned he heard from Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. He mentioned the federal authorities might deal with crime higher than metropolis leaders, and he indicated he might nonetheless ship brokers sooner or later.
At a day information convention, Lurie mentioned he welcomes the town’s “continued partnership” with the Drug Enforcement Company and different federal authorities to get unlawful narcotics off the streets and contribute to San Francisco’s falling crime charges.
“However having the army and militarized immigration enforcement in our metropolis will hinder our restoration,” the mayor mentioned. Trump’s assertions of out-of-control crime within the metropolis of roughly 830,000 have baffled native and state leaders, who level to statistics displaying that many crimes are at file lows.
Newsom’s workplace mentioned on X: “Trump has lastly, for as soon as, listened to motive — and heard what we’ve got been saying from the start. The Bay Space is a shining instance of what makes California so particular, and any try and erode our progress would injury the work we’ve completed.”
Protesters assembled simply after daybreak at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California, the place CBP brokers have been arriving earlier than Trump made his remarks. A number of hundred individuals stood outdoors the ability, with many singing hymns and carrying indicators saying, “Defend our neighbors” and “No ICE or troops within the Bay.”
Police used at the very least one flash-bang grenade to clear a handful of demonstrators from the doorway as CBP automobiles drove onto the bottom. Organizers urged protesters to stay peaceable, as a line of Coast Guard officers in helmets watched from simply outdoors the doorway.
Protester Gala King participated in an interfaith vigil towards the federal crackdown and in assist of immigrants.
“The Bay Space is a fantastic place stuffed with variety, and we’re right here to guard that,” King mentioned. “Our religion traditions, our interfaith traditions, name on us to face on the facet of justice, to face on the facet of these which might be most marginalized, which might be most focused proper now.”
Coast Guard Island is a synthetic island fashioned in 1913, and the Coast Guard first established a base there in 1926. The island is owned by the federal authorities and isn’t open to most people, so escorts or particular authorities ID playing cards are required for guests. The Coast Guard is a part of the Division of Homeland Safety.
Trump has deployed the Guard to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, to assist combat what he says is rampant crime. Los Angeles was the primary metropolis the place Trump deployed the Guard, arguing it was obligatory to guard federal buildings and brokers as protesters fought again towards immigration arrests.
He has additionally mentioned they’re wanted in Chicago and Portland, Oregon. Lawsuits from Democratic officers in each cities have to date blocked troops from going onto metropolis streets.
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Weber reported from Los Angeles. Related Press journalists Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.
