By Heather Schlitz and Emily Schmall

CHICAGO (Reuters) -With growing scenes of conflict involving federal immigration agents in Chicago and its suburbs, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said on Monday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had asked the Pentagon to send 100 troops to the state.

The Illinois National Guard had received word of a memo from the Department of Homeland Security stating the request on Monday, said Pritzker, a Democrat. It was not clear what kind of troops the memo was referring to. The Department of Defense did not reply to a request for comment.

The Trump administration’s stepped up immigration enforcement in Chicago this month, Pritzker said, was a “pretext to deploy military troops against” the Chicago area.

Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon

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