The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that the Pentagon has no plans to actually confront the illegal-immigrant caravan approaching the U.S.

Gen. Joseph Dunford was asked while speaking at Duke University what the mission would be for the thousands of active-duty troops being sent to the border and replied that they will not be “involved in the actual mission of denying people entry to the United States.”

“There is no plan for soldiers to come in contact with immigrants or to reinforce Department of Homeland Security as they’re conducting their mission,” he continued, adding the troops will be supporting DHS, not undertaking missions on their own, as they might in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“We are providing enabling capabilities,” he said, according to a CNN report on the Duke event.

“You’ll see some soldiers down there right now that are putting up concertina wire and reinforcing the points of entry,” he said, adding that the military is providing “both trucks and helicopter support and then also some medical support.”

According to a Pentagon spokesman Monday, almost 5,000 active-duty military personnel are in the border regions supporting DHS with another 2,000 expected soon.