Pope Francis, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has criticized Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations of immigrants, calling them a “disgrace.”
The Pope’s remarks come nearly a decade after he first called the incoming U.S. president “not Christian” for his proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
During an appearance on the popular Italian talk show Che Tempo Che Fa on Sunday night, Francis was asked about the Trump administration’s promises of mass deportations.
“If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the problem,” he said. “This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”
Trump, who was sworn in on January 20, made mass deportations a central focus of his campaign and has vowed to issue a series of executive orders to overhaul immigration policy on his first day in office.
In 2016, when asked about Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Francis famously stated that anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants is “not Christian.”
Many U.S. bishops have strongly opposed Trump’s deportation plans. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the incoming Archbishop of Washington D.C., described such policies as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine,” referencing the Biblical call to “welcome the stranger.”
Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich, a close ally of Francis, expressed deep concern over reports of mass deportations targeting the Chicago area, calling them “profoundly disturbing” and deeply wounding.
In a statement from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Cupich acknowledged that governments have a duty to protect borders and communities but emphasized that they must also defend the rights and dignity of all people.
