The Pope has made a powerful intervention into US politics, questioning whether people can be pro-life if they support the “inhuman” treatment of migrants.

The pontiff, speaking on EWTN, the Catholic television network, argued that the phrase “pro-life” - which is often applied to being opposed to abortion - extended beyond that.

He was responding after a Chicago archdiocese’s decision to honour a pro-choice Democratic senator Dick Durbin for his work with immigrants caused an outcry. Senator Durbin decided not to accept the lifetime achievement award.

Critics said the honour would risk causing a grave scandal and confuse the faithful because of the Catholic Church’s “unequivocal teaching on the sanctity of human life”, The Pillar, a Catholic news website, reported.

The debate over migrant rights is fraught. In Alligator Alcatraz, one of several recently opened detention centres, inmates claim they have been cooped up like “chickens” and made to live in cells awash with human filth. Florida authorities, who manage the facility, have vehemently denied the claims.