House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Screenshot)

In a statement condemning a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule ending the catch-and-release policy regarding illegal aliens claiming to be asylum seekers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused the Trump Administration of “seeking to codify child abuse”:

“The Administration is seeking to codify child abuse, plain and simple. Its appalling, inhumane family incarceration plan would rip away basic protections for children’s human rights, reversing decades-long and court-imposed rules and violating every standard of morality and civilized behavior.”

As CNSNews.com reported, the new rule was issued in response to the unprecedented flow of families across the Southwest border:

“The goal is to end ‘catch and release.’ Asylum-seeking families will no longer be released into the United States with a promise to appear in immigration court -- promises that are mostly not kept, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan noted.

Pelosi repeated Democrats’ claims that holding illegal alien children in custody is abusive and that the children are being subjected to deplorable conditions: