Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents could soon be headed to San Francisco.
McLaughlin said in an interview with NewsNation’s “The Hill,” there would be “no safe haven in the United States, whether that be Los Angeles, Chicago, New York or San Francisco.”
“We do have ICE officers on the ground in San Francisco,” she said. “That’s not a change in posture.”
McLaughlin added that a “stepped-up presence” can be expected in San Francisco “and in any of these sanctuary cities.”
When asked about ICE operations in the Bay Area city, she said she “can’t get too ahead of ICE operations or [President Trump].” McLaughlin added that California Gov. Gavin Newsom “electorally has to be very careful.”
“In Los Angeles and San Francisco, a lot of those citizens aren’t happy with his governance, whether it be over those wildfires or the crime we’re seeing out of San Francisco,” McLaughlin said.
On Wednesday night, Newsom said he would sue the Trump administration should it send federal agents to San Francisco. The Trump administration had already announced that it would send 100 agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Coast Guard Base Alameda.
“We’re going to be fierce, we’re going to be focused in terms of our response,” Newsom said at a press conference. “Quite literally, this is the lawsuit that I will file within a nanosecond of any effort to send the military to one of America’s great cities, San Francisco.”
The immigration officers are expected to arrive on Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Trump announced over the weekend that he would send federal officials to San Francisco “and we’ll make it great,” he told Fox News.
State officials have worked to lower the city’s crime rate, specifically by calling on the California Highway Patrol for intervention, including in the wider San Francisco Bay area.
“Violent crime in San Francisco has fallen to levels not seen since the 1950s. Encampments are at record lows. San Francisco is turning the corner—thanks to public safety,” Mayor Daniel Lurie (D) said in a statement on the social media platform X.
