Medical marijuana patients and advocates, including the group Americans for Safe Access, will be rallying throughout the afternoon to protest what they call a federal crackdown on the medical marijuana community and Oakland's dispensaries.
There will also be a number of anti-war protests, including one conducted by Afghans for Peace and the San Francisco Bay Area Iraq Veterans Against the War. The protesters, who will include members of Occupy Oakland, will call for an end to wars abroad in what they are calling an "Unwelcome Obama" demonstration.
Undocumented immigrants will protest on behalf of detainees awaiting deportation who would be allowed to stay in the country if the DREAM Act were passed.
Representatives of the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, along with the group's mascot, Frostpaw the polar bear, will be on hand to speak out against oil drilling in the Arctic.
The protesters will all be convening in downtown Oakland with hopes of getting as close to the Fox Theater as possible. Police are planning a number of road closures to accommodate the president's visit.
Telegraph and San Pablo avenues will be closed between 17th Street and Thomas L. Berkley Way. In addition, several side streets will be closed between Broadway and Telegraph Avenue, and between Broadway and San Pablo Avenue.
Obama arrived in the Bay Area on Sunday night, touching down at San Francisco International Airport after making a stop in Aurora, Colo., to meet with family members of those killed in the massacre there during a midnight viewing of "The Dark Knight Rises."
He left San Francisco for Reno, Nev., late this morning but is scheduled to return this afternoon, landing at Oakland International Airport.
Mitt Romney, Obama's presumed Republican rival in the presidential race, was in Bay Area over the weekend as well, making fundraising visits to Woodside and San Francisco.
Romney left the Bay Area and went to Southern California for campaign stops in Orange County today.
Obama will leave San Francisco for Portland, Ore., on Tuesday morning.
Several Bay Area reporters are Tweeting about the president's visit:
