ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Protests erupted outside a U.S. Coast Guard base early Thursday morning in Alameda, California, as demonstrators voiced their opposition to the arrival of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents tasked with enforcing immigration policies.
Approximately 150 activists gathered with signs reading No ICE or troops in the Bay, directed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the wake of reports that over 100 federal agents would be deployed to assist in immigration enforcement efforts. Tensions escalated as police utilized crowd-control methods, including flash-bang grenades, to disperse some protesters blocking the entrance.
Local officials, including San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and California Governor Gavin Newsom, condemned the federal action, suggesting that the presence of CBP agents was an effort to provoke conflict within the community. A statement from the Coast Guard described the initiative as part of a comprehensive government approach to address illegal immigration, narco-terrorism, and terrorism-related threats.
As national conversations around immigration and enforcement heat up, protests like these reflect the deep divisions and heightened tensions surrounding federal immigration policies in the Bay Area. President Trump has previously suggested using National Guard troops in the city to tackle crime, but has not yet provided a definitive timeline for deployment.
