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South Dakota's governor, who serves as President Trump's homeland security secretary, referred to Chicago as "a war zone" on Sunday. This came following government officers injured a female, while the governor of Illinois claimed the administration of fueling the situation instead of fixing it.

The Governor's Comments on Fox News

Speaking on a news channel Sunday morning, Noem targeted the Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson. The mayor has publicly opposed of the Trump administration’s immigration operations and sending of the national guard in Illinois, an action he labeled "irrational and harmful".

"It’s wrong, penalties are necessary for that and for officials that stand up and deliberately mislead about the situation on the ground," Noem stated. "Chicago is a war zone and he is dishonest so that criminals can enter and harm residents."

Federal Action and The President's Authorization

Noem’s remarks came after the president's order to send hundreds of personnel of the state guard to Chicago, with instructions to safeguard federal officers and property. The move occurred just shortly after military personnel were sent to Washington, where the president federalized the city’s police force in what he described as a "clampdown" on crime, a pattern now extending to a string of other US cities. "We’re going to be doing Chicago likely soon," Trump had said previously.

Noem's Justification of Government Actions

The governor supported the government's strategy, insisting on television that locals backed the government intervention. "Residents know that in areas we've entered we have made it much more free," she said. "People are much safer, we have removed numerous offenders that are off the streets of Chicago, just because we’ve been there."

State Leader Governor Pritzker Replies

Speaking on a CNN program on Sunday, the state's Democratic leader, JB Pritzker, claimed the federal government of escalating the problem rather than solving it. "It is they who are turning it into a battlefield," he said.

"They must leave of Chicago. If they’re not going to focus on the worst of the worst, as the president said they intend to do, they need to get the heck out."

Federal Agents Incident Details

Border patrol agents on Saturday shot and injured a woman while shooting at someone who tried to run them over. The injured female was a American and was armed with a firearm, a government spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, adding that the woman was accused in a US Customs and Border Protection alert last week of doxing agents.

The Governor's Condemnation on Social Media

The governor also denounced the deployment in a message on X on Saturday, writing: "The Trump Administration’s security agency presented a demand: call up your troops, or we shall." He labeled the decision "completely unacceptable and against American values," and noted that it had been made "without our consent".