🔗 Share this article

Kristi Noem, who serves as Donald Trump's homeland security secretary, referred to Chicago as "a combat zone" on Sunday. This came following government officers shot a woman, and the governor of Illinois claimed the federal government of fueling the crisis rather than fixing it.

The Governor's Appearance on Fox News

Speaking on a news channel on Sunday, Noem targeted the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson. The mayor has publicly opposed of the Trump administration’s Ice raids and deployment of the state troops in Illinois, a measure he labeled "irrational and harmful".

"It’s wrong, there should be consequences for that and for leaders that speak out and deliberately mislead about the situation on the ground," Noem stated. "His city is a war zone and he is dishonest so that lawbreakers can enter and harm residents."

Federal Deployment and The President's Order

Noem’s remarks came after Trump’s authorization to send hundreds of personnel of the state guard to Chicago, with orders to protect federal officers and facilities. The move occurred just weeks after national guard troops were dispatched to Washington, where the president federalized the city’s police force in what he described as a "crackdown" on crime, a pattern now reaching multiple other US cities. "We will address Chicago likely soon," Trump had said at the time.

The Secretary's Defense of Administration Measures

The governor supported the government's strategy, stating on television that residents backed the federal involvement. "They understand that in areas we've entered we have made it much more free," she remarked. "Safety has improved, we have got a thousand criminals that are no longer roaming of Chicago, just because we’ve been there."

State Leader JB Pritzker Replies

Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, the Democratic Illinois governor, Governor Pritzker, claimed the federal government of escalating the crisis rather than solving it. "They are the ones who are turning it into a battlefield," he said.

"They must leave of Chicago. Unless they concentrate on the worst of the worst, which is what the commander-in-chief promised they are going to do, they need to get the heck out."

Federal Agents Incident Information

Border patrol agents on Saturday fired at and wounded a woman while firing at someone who attempted to hit them. The injured female was a American and was carrying a semi-automatic weapon, a government spokeswoman an official stated, noting that the woman was accused in a federal agency intelligence bulletin last week of revealing agents' private information.

Pritzker's Condemnation on Online Platform

The governor also denounced the deployment in a post on X on Saturday, writing: "The Trump Administration’s security agency gave me an ultimatum: mobilize your forces, or we shall." He labeled the decision "completely unacceptable and against American values," and added that it had been made "against our will".