Washington, DC – The Trump administration has reportedly asked U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis to send 800 more troops to the U.S. border with Mexico as the migrant caravan continues its march northward.

The Department of Homeland Security requested the troops after President Donald Trump said again that he was determined to stop the caravan before any of the migrants entered the United States, NPR reported.

Mattis was expected to publicly address the request on Thursday and approve the request, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Once approved, the Pentagon would determine which troops to send. Sources said it’s likely they will send military police to assist the border patrol, and engineers to assist with facilities construction, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It was not yet known whether Mattis would activate National Guard or send active-duty U.S. military in response to the request. It’s likely to be a combination of the two, according to NPR.

President Trump has already bolstered southern border security with 2,100 National Guard troops over the past year, NPR reported.

He tweeted a message directed to the members of the caravan on Thursday, and told them to turn around and go back home.

Many have likened the caravan of future illegal immigrants to an invading mob, as the members of the group have been photographed waving anti-American propaganda and their own country’s flags.

The Associated Press published pictures of Central American protesters burning an American flag in front of the U.S. embassy in Honduras on Oct. 19.

The picture featured a burning American flag with a swastika painted on it by the protesters who allegedly want to come live in the United States.

Another Associated Press photo showed migrants carrying a giant Honduras flag banner over their heads as the humongous caravan continued north toward the United States border.

The caravan, which is said to be about 7,000 strong at this point, has illegally crossed the Guatemala-Mexico border and is headed to the United States’ southern border, Associated Press reported.

It was said to be located about 1,100 miles south of the border as of Thursday morning, and was expected to reach the United States as early as Tuesday.

President Donald Trump sent out several tweets on Monday morning that reiterated his threat to send the military to stop the invasion and shut the southern border of the United States.

“Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!” the President tweeted.

He pointed the blame for the onslaught of illegal refugees firmly at the feet of Democrats.

“Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws! Remember the Midterms! So unfair to those who come in legally,” President Trump tweeted.

And he reiterated his vow to cut off aid to the countries who were doing nothing to intervene and help stop their citizens from rushing the U.S. border.

“Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them,” the President promised in another tweet.

The concerns about Middle Easterners slipping through the country’s southern border with the caravan of Central American migrants has been largely dismissed by mainstream media and Democratic lawmakers.

In fact, Associated Press reporters who have been traveling with the caravan said they have not met anyone who wasn’t from Honduras, Guatemala, or El Salvador.

However, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales told a gathering of foreign affairs officials from the United States and Latin America on Oct. 11 that “close to 100 people completely linked to terrorist issues, with ISIS and that not only have we arrested them within our territory, but they have been deported to their countries of origin,” Prensa Libre reported.

On Oct. 19, thousands of members of the caravan rushed the Guatemala-Mexico border and tore down the fence that separated the two nations.

“We are going to the United States!” Edwin Santos shouted as he raced past the officers with his family. “Nobody is going to stop us!”

When the illegal immigrants arrived on Mexico’s side of a border bridge, they were met by riot squads of federal police officers, KABC reported.

Police released pepper spray after about 50 migrants managed to push past them, and the others retreated as a federal officer pleaded with the crowd to “stop the aggression” over a loudspeaker.

But that did little to stop the flow of the caravan from Guatemala into Mexico, as literally thousands of migrants jumped off the bridge, or crossed the Suchiate River on rafts, to enter through the notoriously porous southern border into Mexico.

The Associated Press reported that the caravan had reformed north of the Mexican border where they resumed their organized march toward the U.S. border.

Some have estimated the caravan could grow to as large as 15,000 in size before it arrives at the United States, but media reports on Thursday held the number at 7,000, KNSD reported.