Leader of the Roman Catholic church, Pope Francis said Donald Trump’s plans to impose mass deportations of immigrants would be a “disgrace’
Francis’ comments come nearly a decade after calling the incoming U.S. president “not Christian” for wanting to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
The pope was asked about the Trump administration’s pledges of deportations during an appearance Sunday night on a popular Italian talk show, Che Tempo Che Fa.
“If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill” for the problem, Francis said. “This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”
Trump, who is set to be sworn in on Monday, January 20, made mass deportations a central issue of his campaign and has promised a series of executive orders to overhaul immigration policy on his first day in office.
During his initial presidential campaign in 2016, Pope Francis was asked about Trump’s plans to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. After celebrating Mass near the border, Francis famously remarked that anyone who builds a wall to exclude migrants is “not Christian.”
Many U.S. bishops have strongly opposed Trump’s deportation strategy, with the incoming archbishop of Washington D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, stating that such policies are “incompatible with Catholic doctrine,” referencing the Biblical mandate to “welcome the stranger.”
Another cardinal close to Francis, Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich, expressed that reports of mass deportations affecting the Chicago area “are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.”
In a statement delivered from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Sunday, Cupich emphasized that governments have a duty to protect borders and communities.
“However, we are also committed to defending the rights of all people and safeguarding their human dignity,” according to his statement.
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