Pope Francis presides over a mass for the jubilee of the armed forces in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican on Sunday Feb. 9, 2025. (AP)
As the first Latin American pope, Francis has long held the position of caring for immigrants, pointing to the biblical command to "welcome the stranger" in calling on countries to welcome, protect, promote and integrate people fleeing conflicts, poverty and climate disasters.
Francis and President Donald Trump have long butted heads over the issue of immigration, including prior to Trump's first term, when Francis said in 2016 that anyone who builds a wall to keep migrants out was "not a Christian."
In his letter, Francis acknowledged that governments have the right to defend their countries and keep their communities safe from criminals, but he added the deportation of people who fled their countries due to various difficult circumstances damages their dignity.
"That said, the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness," he wrote.
Pointing to the Book of Exodus in the Bible and Jesus Christ's experience, Francis emphasized the right of people to seek shelter and safety in other lands and said the Trump administration's deportation plan was a "major crisis."
Anyone educated in Christianity, he said, "cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality."
"What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly," he continued.
POPE FRANCIS CALLS TRUMP'S DEPORTATION PLAN A 'DISGRACE'
Then-Sen. JD Vance walks into the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill on April 23, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
As Homan referenced, the Vatican is a walled-in, 108-acre city-state inside Rome, and it recently increased sanctions for anyone who enters illegally. The law, approved in December, calls for people to face up to four years in prison and a fine of up to 25,000 euros, or $25,873, if they enter with "violence, threat or deception," including by evading security checkpoints.
The U.S. bishops conference had already released a statement condemning Trump’s immigration policies after his first executive orders.
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Anyone "focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us," the statement said.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago praised Francis' letter, telling Vatican Media that it showed the pope viewed "the protection and advocacy for the dignity of migrants as the preeminent urgency at this moment."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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