Reports of informants against Trump's immigration policies, according to the Senate report

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(CNN) - Trump administration immigration policies have taken a toll on some of the officials charged with carrying them out, according to a scathing report by Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley.

The 81-page report, released Thursday, compiled reports of informants and media publications to provide an x-ray of severe government-led measures against migrants seeking asylum in the United States and attempts to stop migration on the southern border.

• LOOK: Trump Government proposes to deny work permits to certain asylum seekers

In an email, dated August 12, 2019 and was obtained by the Merkley office, an asylum officer denounced one of the Trump administration's policies as “clearly designed to promote the racist agenda of this government focused on prevent Hispanic and Latino populations from entering the United States. ” The email was initially reported by The Washington Post .

The official referred to the aforementioned Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, which requires some migrants to remain in Mexico for as long as their asylum processes take. The measure has been challenged in court, but has been allowed to continue for now.

It is not the first time that asylum officials have expressed frustration about the program, which, as some defenders argue, endangers migrants, many of whom come from Central America.

Last June, the union representing US asylum officers asked a federal court to end the policy, noting that the guidelines are "fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and our national and international legal obligations." .

Merkely's report, entitled "Shattered Refuge" (which translates "Shattered Shelter" in Spanish), emphasizes the frustrations of some of the government officials who are responsible for executing the policies and raises alarms about departmental actions that, according to the report, they exacerbated the crisis on the southern border.

The details of the report

- Six pregnant women in custody of the Office of Customs and Border Protection were sent to Mexico last May to await their immigration processes, despite having several months of gestation, according to informants. The report cites a letter from the United States Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) addressed to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, raising concerns about the placement of pregnant women in the Protection Protocols program to the Migrant

- The former director of the asylum division of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), John L. Lafferty, was fired in September this year by the then interim director Ken Cuccinelli. The complainants perceived that this was "the result of acting as a committed official who played according to the rules," the report said.

-In April, the Citizenship and Immigration Service worked to raise the standard in credible fear reviews, the first step in the asylum process. A lawsuit was filed in June against this change.

• READ: They ask immigration officials to implement asylum restrictions in certain jurisdictions

-The Trump administration assigned agents of the Office of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the task of conducting credible fear interviews in what appeared to be an attempt to curb the number of asylum seekers, according to the report. (According to USCIS, more than 50 Border Patrol officials are conducting credible fear reviews. As of October 2019, Border Patrol agents have completed around 2,000 credible fear determinations.

-The report states that limiting entry to CBP ports of entry has led to long waiting lines and put migrants at greater risk.

“The United States should be a land of hope and refuge, the place President Reagan called a luminous city on a hill. We have seen the betrayal of that vision because of the trauma that the Trump government has intentionally caused to children and families as a warning for others to stay away, ”Merkley said in a statement. "Their draconian actions are so contrary to American values ​​and law that at least one whistleblower felt they could not fulfill their orders morally or legally."

The Trump administration has argued that the country's immigration system has encouraged people to reach the southern border. The president ordered the Justice and National Security departments last April to propose regulations to stop the flow of migrants, many of whom claim to seek asylum in the United States.

• MIRA: Why does President Trump reject immigrants?

During the last week, USCIS, an immigration agency within the Department of Homeland Security, proposed changes to deny work permits to asylum seekers who crossed the border illegally, and to apply a cost to applications, among other things. Immigrant advocates and lawyers have rejected the proposed regulations, arguing that the rules penalize a strip of migrants seeking refuge in the United States.

Merkley's report acknowledges the proposed changes to the asylum system and also brings back documents that found that the controversial policy that led to the separation of thousands of families on the U.S.-Mexico border was intended to deter Migrants reach the border. It also reflects overcrowding at CBP facilities during the summer.

Asylum in the United States Donald Trump Border United States Mexico South border Policy Separation of families