The Trump administration has been paying undercover informants in the migrant caravan moving toward the U.S. border in an effort to gather intelligence, NBC News reported Tuesday, citing two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials.

DHS has also been monitoring text messages between members of the caravan that have been sent using the communications app WhatsApp, according to NBC News.

The migrants, who are fleeing violence from their home countries in Central America, are currently moving through Mexico and toward the southern U.S. border.

DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman, in a statement to The Hill, declined to comment on the “sources or methods” that DHS uses to gather intelligence on the migrants. But she added that it would be “malpractice for the United States to be ignorant about the migrants.” – READ MORE