Calif. Gov. Newsom says border patrol deployment to SF will follow 'authoritarian playbook'

Lia Russell, The Sacramento Bee on Oct 22, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he anticipated a “similar playbook” playing out in his hometown of San Francisco after Customs and Border Protection deployed 100 agents to the Bay Area on Wednesday, following similar campaigns in Portland and Los Angeles.

Newsom told reporters in Stockton that it was likely President Donald Trump would next storm the city with National Guard troops in response to anticipated protests, calling it “absolutely predictable” and a “script that has been written for centuries.”

Trump’s second administration has been marked by heavily publicized raids carried out by masked, anonymous agents after the White House ordered mass arrests and jailing of immigrants. Last month, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said they would send the military to liberal cities and floated invoking the Insurrection Act to justify using federal force on residents.

“You announce the National Guard (is coming), saying everyone wants them, crime is running out of control, even though all the stats and facts contradict that,” Newsom said, referring to previous publicized raids led by CBP El Centro sector Chief Gregory Bovino. “You send out ICE and masked men. You get your spokesperson out there that knows how to gin everything up, people get upset. And then you say, ‘See, people are upset now. Like an arsonist. Well, now I got to put out the fire, and then I get to claim credit that I’m providing safety and security across this country.’ And the great thing is, you have Laura Ingraham on Fox News to say, ‘Well done, sir.’ ”

The same day, a federal appeals court heard oral arguments in Newsom’s ongoing lawsuit against the White House for seizing control of the California National Guard to suppress anti-government protests in Los Angeles.

Ahead of the CBP agents’ anticipated arrival Thursday, Newsom dispatched Cal Guard members to distribute aid at food banks, blaming dwindling public benefits on the ongoing federal government shutdown.

He doubled down on his administration’s pledge to sue the “nanosecond” National Guard troops entered San Francisco, following a previous lawsuit Attorney General Rob Bonta initiated to stop the Pentagon from sending Cal Guard members to Oregon.

Newsom also called out media companies, law firms, tech companies and the University of Virginia for acquiescing to Trump’s demands, calling them pawns of “the great grift” to enrich the president and his family. He framed Proposition 50, his Nov. 4 ballot initiative to redraw congressional boundaries as the Democrats’ best chance of stopping Congress from passing much of Trump’s legislative agenda.

“That’s Donald Trump’s America right now. This is a revolution that’s going on in real time in our country. We need to wake up about it,” the governor said. “I know it’s shock and awe, it could be overwhelming, and every single day there’s a new shiny object, but Prop. 50 is foundational if we’re going to save this republic.”

_____