Pope calls Trump’s migrant deportations a crisis
Pope Francis delivered a sharp critique on Tuesday of US President Donald Trump’s mass deportations of undocumented migrants, calling it a “major crisis” that “damages the dignity of men and women.”
In a letter to US bishops, the Pope urged Catholics and others to resist narratives that discriminate against migrants and refugees, causing them unnecessary harm. The 88-year-old Argentine pontiff, who has consistently championed the rights of migrants during his papacy, called on world leaders to show greater compassion for those fleeing poverty and violence.
“I have closely followed the severe crisis unfolding in the United States with the initiation of mass deportation programs,” he wrote.
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While recognizing a nation’s right to protect itself and ensure safety from those guilty of serious crimes, the Pope emphasized that deporting individuals who often leave their home countries due to extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or environmental destruction “damages the dignity of many men and women, and entire families.” Deportation, he said, “leaves them vulnerable and defenseless.”
Earlier, Pope Francis had warned that Trump’s promise to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history would be a “calamity.”
“This is not a minor issue,” he wrote. “An authentic rule of law is reflected in the dignified treatment of all people, especially the poorest and most marginalized.”
While advocating for orderly and legal migration policies, the Pope insisted that these must not come at the expense of others. “What is built on the basis of force, not on the truth of equal human dignity, begins badly and will end badly,” he warned.
He also praised the work of Catholic clergy supporting refugees and migrants, urging all Catholics and people of goodwill to stand against harmful narratives that cause unnecessary suffering to displaced individuals.
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