Kristi Noem, the federal homeland security chief, has slammed Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, calling him “delusional” and accusing him of turning the city into a “war zone.” The criticism comes after President Trump decided to deploy about 300 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago to support federal law‑enforcement officers.
Noem met with local police and federal agents on the ground before the Guard moved in. She said Chicago residents were cheering the federal officers and blamed the mayor’s harsh rhetoric for the recent rise in attacks on agents. “This is a war zone,” she said. “His city is a war zone, and he’s giving the criminals a free hand.”
Johnson, who took office in 2023, has repeatedly rebuffed the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration‑enforcement push in the city. In a recent interview with MSNBC, he called the president’s actions “unconstitutional” and “dangerous.” He accused the federal government of being “delusional” and of blocking federal officers from using public restrooms in Chicago.
The tension is also political. Most polls show Johnson’s approval rating hovering just above 6 percent, with some surveys reporting as low as 26 percent. The new deployment faces opposition from governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat who has said the Guard’s arrival is unnecessary.
At the center of the dispute is the federal crackdown on immigration enforcement in Chicago, which includes the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. Since the Trump administration re‑intensified immigration enforcement operations, local officials, including Johnson, have lambasted the policy as reckless and anti‑American.
Noem said any mayor who allows attacks on federal officers should face consequences. Johnson blasted the federal moves, saying Americans should not stand for what he calls a “re‑legitimization” of civil‑war‑era rhetoric.
The scene on the South Side saw a Border Patrol agent and a federal officer exchange gunfire during a Saturday raid that left a woman wounded after she was found armed. That incident intensified the debate about the appropriate role of the National Guard, the federal agents, and local police in Chicago.
The conversation is heating up as the National Guard arrives and as both sides continue to challenge each other over how public safety, immigration enforcement, and local governance should balance in the Windy City.
Source: New York Post
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