The Pope has condemned Donald Trump’s plans to embark on the mass rounding-up and deportation of illegal immigrants as “a disgrace”.

“If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill” for the problem, Pope Francis said in an interview on Italian television on Sunday night, just hours before the president-elect’s swearing-in.

“This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.”

The Argentinian Pope, 88, whose family emigrated from Italy in the early 20th century, has frequently expressed sympathy and support for refugees and migrants.

But the language he used in the interview on the eve of Mr Trump’s inauguration was unusually forthright.

The president has pledged to carry out the largest migrant deportation in US history, with “post-inauguration” raids reportedly set to begin as soon as this week.