(SAN FRANCISCO) President Trump said he has called off a planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco after a direct call with Mayor Daniel Lurie, pausing a move that was set for this weekend and was tied to a broader crackdown on undocumented immigrants and crime. The decision came after the mayor stressed recent progress on public safety and asked for more time, and after well-known tech leaders also urged patience.
In a post on October 23, 2025, Trump said the federal government had been preparing to deploy a large force of federal agents to San Francisco on Saturday, October 25. After his conversation with Lurie, he agreed to hold off. The president said NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff reached out as well, sharing optimism about the city’s direction and asking him to give local efforts room to work.
Mayor Lurie confirmed the call. He told the president that San Francisco is “on the rise,” saying crime is down nearly 30% citywide, violent crime is at its lowest level since the 1950s, and other measures are improving. Lurie said the city welcomes cooperation with federal partners such as the FBI and DEA, but warned that a large, uniformed presence of federal agents would complicate recovery and could hurt trust with residents.
Trump’s reversal landed as federal agents had already begun arriving in the Bay Area, according to local reports, and as protests formed outside the Coast Guard base in Alameda. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said its focus remains on the most serious criminal offenders in cities across the country, including San Francisco. As of October 24, 2025, there are no active plans for a surge of federal agents in San Francisco, but the review is ongoing and could change if federal priorities or city trends shift.
Policy reversal and local response
The pause reflects an unusual mix of political dialogue, business influence, and community pushback.
- Trump said he was ready to move forward until the mayor assured him that local strategies were working.
- Those assurances matched Lurie’s public statements, citing new crime data and coordinated city efforts on safety and recovery.
- Business leaders — notably Jensen Huang and Marc Benioff — publicly urged patience, saying they expect the city to continue improving.
Community pressure also helped shape the outcome. Protesters gathered outside the Coast Guard base in Alameda in response to the expected deployment, signaling that a more aggressive federal role would meet loud resistance. That activity bolstered the mayor’s argument that federal cooperation is welcome, but a show of force could undermine trust and slow the city’s rebound.
Implications for immigration enforcement
The planned surge had been framed as part of a broader push to crack down on undocumented immigrants and crime. The pause does not change the stance of federal agencies: they say they will keep targeting the most serious criminal offenders. DHS reiterated that priority remains on high-risk offenders.
Key points for immigrant families, workers, and employers:
- The announcement eases immediate concern about a sudden spike in enforcement actions across the city.
- It does not rewrite federal immigration policy or enforcement priorities.
- City leaders will continue to cooperate with agencies like the FBI and DEA on serious-crime cases.
- Federal authorities will continue to set national priorities and may redirect resources depending on evolving assessments.
According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, pauses like this tend to calm communities short-term while giving local leaders space to demonstrate progress with data. In San Francisco, Lurie’s message centers on falling crime and the belief that a heavy federal footprint could disrupt momentum rather than help it.
Trump cited recent National Guard deployments to cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Memphis, Chicago, and Portland, framing them as similar responses to public-safety concerns. In San Francisco’s case, he said the decision to stand down followed a combination of local leadership requests, community activity, and business input — all urging a window for improvement.
What this means practically
For now, the immediate plan has changed:
- There will be no sudden citywide expansion of federal presence on October 25.
- Normal coordination among federal and local agencies remains in place rather than a fast-scale deployment.
- DHS will continue focusing on major offenders and reassessing resource allocation city by city.
Stakeholder perspectives:
- City leaders: Keep federal partnerships focused on serious cases and avoid a militarized approach that could set back local recovery.
- The president: San Francisco gets time to show more progress, with the option to revisit if needed.
- DHS: Enforcement will continue to focus on the most serious offenders, including in San Francisco.
For immigrant households, the pause reduces immediate fear of large-scale operations. For employers — particularly in tech and service sectors — it lowers the risk of sudden workplace disruption. For neighborhoods that saw protests, it offers a chance for calmer engagement between residents and authorities.
The test ahead
Two measures will be watched closely in coming days and weeks:
- Whether local crime trends continue to decline (Lurie cites crime down nearly 30%).
- Whether the federal review changes course based on shifting priorities or city metrics.
If crime metrics keep improving, city officials will likely argue the pause was the right call. If they do not, the federal review may lead to renewed action.
The decision to stand down shows that direct talks between the president and the mayor can shape law enforcement plans on the ground. It also shows how community voices and business leaders can join that conversation.
For official information on national enforcement priorities and programs, residents can visit the Department of Homeland Security. Officials say they will keep assessing where resources go, city by city, as part of the ongoing review.
As of today, federal agents will not flood San Francisco this weekend. DHS says it will keep pursuing major offenders. City Hall says it will continue pushing local strategies that it believes are already working. Residents, workers, and families will continue to live with that balance — federal priorities on one side, local progress on the other — while both sides track what happens next.
This Article in a Nutshell
President Trump paused a planned deployment of federal agents to San Francisco after a direct call with Mayor Daniel Lurie on October 23, 2025. The move, set for October 25, was halted after the mayor highlighted public-safety gains — crime down nearly 30% and violent crime at its lowest since the 1950s — and urged more time for local strategies. Tech leaders Jensen Huang and Marc Benioff also urged patience. Federal agents had begun arriving and protests formed near the Alameda Coast Guard base. DHS reaffirmed its focus on the most serious criminals; no surge was planned as of October 24, though a review continues and could change based on priorities or metrics.
