Pelosi Fumes Over Plan to Release Immigrant Detainees in Sanctuary Cities

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talks to reporters during a news conference a day after a bipartisan group of House and Senate bargainers met to craft a border security compromise aimed at avoiding another government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 31, 2019. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

After the White House proposed releasing illegal immigrant detainees in sanctuary cities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reacted negatively, with her office calling the idea “despicable.”

“The extent of this Administration’s cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated,” Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne said in a statement on Friday, April 12. “Using human beings—including little children—as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable, and in some cases, criminal.”