(CNN) The Trump administration was drafting policy to separate families apprehended at the US-Mexico border as early as December 2017, according to a draft memo released Thursday night, despite later claims that no such policy existed.

Sen. Jeff Merkley released a 2017 memo drafted by senior officials in the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice detailing the plans.

"This memo really nails down the lies the administration was telling the public," the Oregon Democrat told CNN. "The secretary of homeland security said that they did not have a policy of child separation. Well, this memo shows that there was a high-level discussion planning for that."

He added: "The big picture here is while the President is talking about a crisis on the border -- from rapists and murderers flooding into America -- the administration is talking internally about families applying for asylum and developing a strategy to deter them by the US government inflicting trauma on children."

Responding to the release of the memo, DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman said, "The Trump administration has made clear that all legal options are on the table to enforce the rule of law, rein in mass unchecked illegal immigration, and defend our borders." Waldman cited an increase in apprehensions in December 2017 as reason for the concern.

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