A rally formed on the steps of San Francisco's City Hall Wednesday afternoon shortly after President Trump signed his promised executive order to cut off federal funding to so-called Sanctuary Cities — among them San Francisco, but also New York, Chicago, Austin, Boston, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Haven, Madison, Newark, Seattle, and Santa Fe. The Examiner reports that about 100 people rallied in support of SF's sanctuary status, but that is only the first of what will undoubtedly be many protests over the president's xenophobic, anti-immigrant policies.

Mayor Ed Lee gave a brief press conference, broadcast on Periscope, in which he said once again that San Francisco would reaffirm its Sanctuary City status. "I believe in our Sanctuary City status," he said. "And I think there are 100 mayors around the country who feel the same way, and we stand united."

State Senator Scott Wiener declared this "a shameful day for our country," and saying that President Trump "is in for one hell of a fight" with California if he tries cutting off federal funds to Sanctuary Cities, or continues to say he'll be building a wall across our Mexican border.

In a series of tweets, Senator Kamala Harris also decried Trump's executive orders, saying of California's immigrants "we benefit from their creativity and love of our country."

Supervisor Jane Kim spoke to the Examiner Wednesday saying that SF should continue to be a "sanctuary from Trump's hate," and adding, “Here in San Francisco we are going to make sure that our undocumented brothers and sisters get the legal defense that they need to fight back.”

Supervisor Sandra Fewer, spoke some similar words, telling the paper that she is "the granddaughter of a person who came the country on false papers," and saying "This is what happens when this nation elects a psycho person to be the most powerful man in the world."

As we discussed back in November, San Francisco stands to lose $1.4 billion in annual federal funding, $478 million of which comes directly from the government with the remainder being funneled through the state.

A proposed $2.6 million fund for the public defender to devote 10 lawyers to immigration cases was shot down by Mayor Lee in December, whose spokesperson said at the time, "At the end of the day, community-based organizations are already doing this work, and we should be building on their success.”

KALW retweeted a December story today quoting Supervisor Aaron Peskin saying "San Francisco is at its best when we are under pressure." And here comes the pressure.

Previously: Trump May Cut Off San Francisco's Federal Funding For Being A Sanctuary City