Wading into U.S. politics, Pope Francis called President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious plan for deporting over 1 million illegal immigrants a “disgrace.”
Asked about the incoming administration’s expected mass deportation operation, the Pontiff argued that Trump’s policy is inhumane because the most impoverished people in American society will be made to suffer.
“If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill,” Francis said on an Italian talk show Sunday evening. “This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”
Trump made mass deportations a signature issue during his 2024 campaign, promising to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history. The second Trump administration is expected to prioritize deporting about 1.4 million immigrants who have committed crimes or are otherwise staying in the U.S. illegally. The large-scale deportations will reportedly start Tuesday in Chicago.
The head of the Catholic Church has repeatedly called for compassionate immigration policies, saying nations should accept immigrants and take down their barriers.
The Pope previously blasted Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration, particularly over the Republican’s 2016 campaign promise to build the border wall. Francis said anyone who builds a wall to shut out immigrants was “not Christian.”
Following his evening remarks, Francis congratulated Trump on the day of his second inauguration and prayed that the U.S. would pursue humane policies.
“It is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination, or exclusion,” he wrote in a telegram message to Trump.
Soon after he takes office Monday afternoon, Trump will sign an estimated 200 executive orders on strengthening border security, bolstering energy, and ending DEI programs, among other issues.
Trump will be the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms in nearly 140 years since Grover Cleveland, who served from 1885 to 1889 and again from 1893 to 1897. It will also be the first time since 1985, when Ronald Reagan took the oath of office for the second time, that the swearing-in ceremony will be held inside the Capitol Rotunda because of frigid temperatures.