Defense Secretary Mattis Will Send Some 800 U.S. Troops To Border With Mexico

The Pentagon is sending troops to help control the U.S.-Mexico border. Here, Central American migrants, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., cross from Guatemala into a Mexican border and customs facility in Ciudad Hidalgo on Wednesday.

Edgard Garrido / Reuters

Updated at 7:45 a.m. ET Friday

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to sign an order sending at least 800 U.S. troops to the U.S.-Mexico border as a caravan of thousands of migrants heads north from Central America.

In another possible response to the approaching caravan, two White House officials declined to deny reports in The Washington Post, Politico and other media outlets that the administration is considering an executive order to close the southern border to migrants, including asylum seekers.