By Agence France-Presse

A US federal agent on Saturday shot a motorist who was allegedly armed and blocking law enforcement vehicles in Chicago, as tensions in the Democratic stronghold spike ahead of an expected deployment of troops as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The Midwestern city is the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign that has seen heavily militarized raids and protests in cities including Los Angeles, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the shooting took place Saturday morning after agents were “boxed in by 10 cars.”

“Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon,” DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

“Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen,” she said.

AFP could not independently verify the DHS version of the event.

The agency said the motorist “drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.”

McLaughlin also accused Chicago police of “leaving the shooting scene” with officers refusing “to assist us in securing the area.”

Chicago police told local broadcaster Fox 32 that officers responded to the scene but the department “is not involved in the incident or its investigation. Federal authorities are investigating this shooting.”

The incident came as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Washington had ordered him to deploy his state’s National Guard troops, or else federal authorities would do so over his objections.

“The Trump administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” he said on X.