WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday he’s not comfortable with a Trump administration policy that separates children and parents at the southern border, as congressional Republicans face increasing pressure to address concerns about vulnerable families being torn apart.

“We don’t want kids to be separated from their parents,” Ryan said.

Ryan and other GOP lawmakers said they are seeking to resolve the problem in a compromise immigration bill House Republicans are racing to finish. That bill is set to receive a vote next week.

Ryan claimed Thursday that the family-separation policy is being dictated by a court ruling that prevents children who enter the country illegally from being held in custody for long periods.

But House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi pushed back on that assessment, saying that President Donald Trump could “stop the practice on a dime.”

She called the Trump administration’s separation policy “barbaric,” adding: “It has to stop.”

The family separations are occurring as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy for those entering the country illegally. Under the directive, families crossing the border are routinely referred for criminal prosecution.