U.S. Rep. Ted W. Lieu (D-Torrance) led a letter of 51 members calling for the Department of Homeland Security inspector general to open an investigation regarding reports that asylum-seekers are being turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border before being referred to an asylum officer. They also expressed dismay at Trump administration policies that could compel families to choose between pursuing legal asylum claims or being reunited but then deported.

“It has become increasingly evident that the Department of Homeland Security is turning away individuals seeking asylum at U.S. ports of entry,” the letter states. “In May 2017, Human Rights First published a report that documented 125 cases of families and individuals who were denied an opportunity to pursue their asylum claims at a port of entry.”

The letter also mentioned their concerns with how asylum claims are being processed and the Department of Homeland Security putting separated families being in the position of dropping their pursuit to seek legal refuge in the U.S. to possibly be reunited upon deportation.

“We urge you to immediately open an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security’s potentially illegal treatment of asylum seekers at the southwest border, including the denial of access to asylum procedures, the pressure to recant fears of return and the implementation of a policy that incentivizes asylum seekers to forfeit their claims in order to be reunited with their children,” the letter said.