OAKLAND — The city is preparing to defend its employees against criminal charges if they are accused of obstructing federal immigration authorities or National Guard troops deployed by the Trump administration.
In new legislation, Oakland’s leaders may grant the city’s top public attorney rare power to represent city workers in criminal cases without needing the City Council’s approval.
President Donald Trump has mentioned both Oakland and San Francisco among potential target cities with crime problems where he would send troops, having already ordered the National Guard in recent months to Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn., while making formal threats to Chicago and Portland, Oregon.
The president has not yet announced any official plans to send the guard to the Bay Area. Oakland’s leaders, though, are wary of the possibility, given California’s status as a sanctuary state for immigrants and Mayor Barbara Lee’s direct criticisms of Trump.
The new legislation would grant City Attorney Ryan Richardson the power to “facilitate and authorize” legal representation for city officials facing “criminal proceedings” over actions they would take “within the scope of performing official city duties.”
These also include “omissions,” or actions that city officials do not take, which could be interpreted to mean the level to which they assist federal authorities. The council is expected to consider approving the legislation later this month.
Public agencies are required to offer employees a civil defense but not a criminal one, though in ordinary circumstances the council may take time to decide whether to protect workers against the latter type of charges.
But the threat of the federal government coming to Oakland appears to have Richardson on high alert. A memo he sent to the council Thursday notes that similar actions have already been taken by the cities of San Jose and West Hollywood, as well as Santa Clara County.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee at City Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
“Circumstances resulting in the need for criminal defense can arise quickly and unexpectedly and, in such circumstances, time may be of the essence,” the legislation states.
Lee has sharply criticized Trump’s newfound affinity for filling city streets with federal troops. Practically, however, she appears to have few options to meaningfully resist the administration.
In August, after immigration authorities raided an East Oakland home and arrested several people, the mayor could issue only a call to raise funds for the detainees’ legal defense.
Under both state and local law, Oakland’s public officials are restricted from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities, but the city has seen increasingly bold ICE activity in town. Last week, federal authorities detained a client of the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office at a downtown Oakland courthouse.
City officials worry Trump could seek to make an example out of a region that has championed progressive politics.
“That is the devastating power of the administration,” said Dan Lindheim, a UC Berkeley professor and former Oakland city administrator. “They may lose in court on every one of these cases, but they don’t care — they just want to make life miserable for these people, and in some cases that will make people submit.”
Locally, support for Trump is close to zero, though some among the scattered opposition to Lee’s short mayoral tenure have publicly welcomed a guard deployment to combat Oakland’s crime.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Brenda Grisham, who will run in next November’s mayoral election, said in a recent interview she would have “mixed feelings” about federal troops coming to the city and hopes for a more supportive role.
Crime in the city has leveled off considerably since the pandemic’s worst years, with crimes investigated as homicides down 27% through Sept. 28 when compared to the same stretch of time last year. By the same metric, reports of robberies had declined by 41%, burglaries by 27% and overall violent crime by 26%.
It is unclear if city officials will actually find themselves facing criminal charges. In 2010, the city’s police briefly investigated Rebecca Kaplan and future Mayor Jean Quan — both then-members of the city council — for linking arms to block officers during a demonstration over the killing of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer. No charges were ever filed.
Meanwhile, a ruling by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco last month found the Trump administration had violated the law in June when it ordered the National Guard to quell anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
Still, legal experts said the ruling by Judge Charles Breyer would appear to leave room for federal troops to be deployed — so long as they offer a supporting role to protect private property, instead of actively searching and arresting people or seizing their belongings.
Once troops are on the ground, however, the “line becomes thinner between what’s permissible and not permissible,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School.
“We’re living through a situation right now,” Levinson said, “where we’re seeing how powerful the executive branch really is — and there’s a lot of power there.”
Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at [email protected].
