Federal troop 'surge' paused in Bay Area, mayor says

Oakland’s Barbara Lee says situation is 'fluid' amid concerns over immigration action.

- BY KEVIN RECTOR

A planned increase in federal immigration enforcement in the Bay Area is now on pause throughout the region and in major East Bay cities, not just in San Francisco, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Friday.

Lee said in a statement that Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez had “confirmed through her communications” with federal immigration officials that the planned operations were “cancelled for the greater Bay Area — which includes Oakland — at this time.”

The announcement followed lingering concerns about ramped up immigration enforcement among East Bay leaders after President Trump and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced Thursday that a planned “surge” had been called off in San Francisco.

Trump and Lurie had specifically addressed San Francisco, even as additional Border Patrol agents were being staged across the bay on Coast Guard Island, in the waters between Alameda and Oakland.

At a news conference after Trump's announcement about San Francisco, Lee had said the situation remained “fluid,” that she had received no such assurances about the East Bay and that Oakland was continuing to prepare for enhanced immigration enforcement in the region.

Alameda County Dist. Atty. Ursula Jones Dickson had previously warned that the announced stand-down in San Francisco could be a sign the administration was looking to focus on Oakland instead — and make an example of it.