The Pentagon plans to deploy 5,200 troops to ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, Arizona and California by the end of this week to support immigration authorities' efforts to stop Central American migrants headed for the U.S., officials announced Monday.

The details: Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, head of the U.S. Northern Command, told reporters that a group of 800 soldiers was already heading to Texas from Fort Campbell and Fort Knox. The announcement comes in the closing days of the midterm elections season, in which President Trump has said he will cut off federal aid to the countries from which migrants are fleeing. He is reportedly planning to deny any requests for asylum and close the southern border as a migrant caravan makes its way north.