24 Oct Oakland Mayor Says Federal Immigration Enforcement ‘Surge’ Called Off for Entire Region

Protesters try to block the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Oakland on Thursday amid plans at the time for an increased presence of federal agents in the Bay Area called for by President Donald Trump. (Andres Jimenez Larios / Bay City News)

By Kiley Russell
Bay City News

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Friday that any potential increase in federal immigration activity in the city and greater Bay Area has been called off.

Lee made the announcement one day after federal agents arrived on Coast Guard Island in the Oakland Estuary, a move widely seen as the first step in a “surge” of enforcement sweeps involving immigration agents and the National Guard.

“I spoke with Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, who confirmed through her communications with ICE that Border Patrol operations are cancelled for the greater Bay Area — which includes Oakland — at this time,” Lee said.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he was canceling plans for such activity in San Francisco after hearing from a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires and speaking with Mayor Daniel Lurie.

Still, it remained unclear until Lee made her announcement Friday if those plans were also canceled for other cities in the region.

The arrival of federal agents on Coast Guard Island early Thursday morning prompted protesters to block access to the lone bridge leading to the base for much of the day.

Things seemed to cool off, however, after Lurie and Trump said the federal surge was called off.

That changed at about 10 p.m. Thursday when someone drove a U-Haul box truck backwards toward armed Coast Guard personnel standing guard on the bridge.

The driver allegedly ignored repeated orders to stop, authorities said, and the security personnel opened fire.

The FBI is handling the investigation into the shooting but wouldn’t confirm if the driver was hit by gunfire, as was widely reported.

A GoFundMe page was set up to raise money for medical bills for a man who apparently was attending the protest and was injured in the shooting but wasn’t in the truck.

The organizer’s post says their brother was shot in the stomach and was taken to the hospital, where he was listed in serious but stable condition. The account had raised more than $5,300 as of Friday afternoon.

Along with increased enforcement nationwide from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, since taking office, Trump has ordered National Guard troops from various states to Portland, Oregon; Chicago; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles. He has said the soldiers are needed to stop rampant crime and civil unrest.

Copyright © 2025 Bay City News, Inc.  All rights reserved.  Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.