CHICAGO: US Border Patrol agents shot and wounded an armed woman in Chicago on Saturday (Oct 4) as protesters confronted federal immigration personnel in the city’s southwest, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

The incident took place in the Brighton Park neighborhood, where scores of demonstrators gathered to denounce what they called an excessive federal presence.

According to a DHS spokesperson, the woman, a US citizen who was not identified, was part of a group that rammed vehicles into those used by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.

She later drove herself to a hospital, the department said, adding that no law enforcement officers were seriously injured. ICE agents fired pepper spray and rubber bullets as tensions flared between officers and protesters.

DHS DEPLOYS ADDITIONAL FORCES

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she had ordered “special operations units” to reinforce the scene in Chicago.

“I have directed DHS tactical teams to restore order and ensure the safety of federal personnel,” Noem wrote on X.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Saturday that President Donald Trump’s administration had demanded he deploy the state’s National Guard to assist federal forces.

“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand that a governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said in a statement.

ESCALATING PROTESTS

Chicago has seen several demonstrations in recent weeks against what protesters describe as Trump’s “militarisation” of immigration enforcement.

On Friday, police scuffled with hundreds of protesters outside an ICE detention facility in the suburb of Broadview.

Video from the scene showed demonstrators attempting to block ICE vehicles from entering the compound before being repelled by heavily armed agents using physical force, tear gas and rubber bullets.

“We’re witnessing scenes of warfare in American streets,” said Miguel Torres, one of t...