House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called on the Trump administration Thursday to end the practice of separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border, and downplayed the idea that Congress would be able to pass legislation on the issue.
Pelosi said even though House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters he wants a legislative fix to the problem, she doubts anything will be done in the House because “we do nothing.”
“I don’t see any prospect for legislation here,” Pelosi said. “What do we do here? We do nothing. We do nothing. This could have been something taken up under suspension in a minute if this was a sincere effort to do it.”
Pelosi said any action would have to be a reversal on the part of the administration and the Justice Department, who implemented the policy.
“This was an act of the administration. They’ve been planning this for a while … This is barbaric,” Pelosi said, calling on the Trump administration to stop the practice. “I just don’t even know why there aren’t uprisings all over the country — and maybe there will be.”
Ryan told reporters Thursday that he hopes the House takes up legislation that would keep families together. He pointed to a new immigration proposal being written by House leadership as part of a deal with House GOP centrists that includes language saying that immigrant minor children cannot be separated from a parent or guardian.
He also said a court ruling is what forces the government to take children out of detention centers, where their illegal immigrant parents are held.
“This is because of a court ruling,” Ryan said. “We believe it should be addressed in immigration legislation. So what’s happening at the border with the separation of their parents and their children is because of a court ruling, and so that’s why I think legislation is necessary.”
