Rep. Adam Schiff (D–Calif.) implicitly stated that he would like to see the policy of “catch and release” to be reimplemented during CNN’s “New Day” Thursday morning.

WATCH:

“We don’t have to criminalize everyone that’s coming here to seek asylum. We had a process that I think was effective when people came to the border seeking asylum with their families, with their kids, when they were worried for the life of their children — we didn’t treat them as criminals … we put them through the asylum process,” Schiff stated.

He added, “I think you do need a mechanism to make sure they show up in court and we have a mechanism to do that, that was working fine,” in regards to the previous policy.

Shiff’s comments follow a week of heavy scrutiny over separating parents from children when they are detained for attempting to illegally enter the country.

President Trump gave a speech during the Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service where he discussed the catch and release policy. He said, “We have a catch and release program, too. It’s called, we catch them here and we release them in the country they came from. We’re getting them out.” (RELATED: Trump Lays Out New ‘Catch & Release’ Rules To Crowd Of Police Officers – The Reaction Says It All)