Pope Francis calls mass deportation plans by Trump 'a disgrace'

Pope Francis said Donald Trump's intentions to deport millions of immigrants would be a "disgrace," as he weighed in on the incoming US president's vows nearly a decade after branding him "not Christian" for proposing to erect a wall along the US-Mexico border.

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, on January 19, 2025.

Andrew Medichini/AP

During an appearance Sunday night on the famous Italian chat program Che Tempo Che Fa, history's first Latin American pope was asked about the Trump administration's deportation vows.

"If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill" for the problem, Francis say. "This will not do! This is not the way to solve problems. "That is not how things are resolved."

Trump, who will be inaugurated in on Monday, made mass deportations a campaign theme and has pledged a slew of first-day executive actions to overhaul immigration laws.

During his first presidential campaign in 2016, Francis was asked about Trump's proposal to erect a wall along the US-Mexico border. Speaking after celebrating Mass at the border, Francis famously stated that anybody who constructs a wall to keep migrants out is "not Christian."

Many US bishops have strongly criticized Trump's deportation proposal, with Cardinal Robert McElroy, the future archbishop of Washington, D.C., stating that such actions were "incompatible with Catholic doctrine." It was an allusion to the biblical command to "welcome the stranger."

Another cardinal close to Francis, Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich, said that reports of mass deportations targeting the Chicago region are "not only profoundly disturbing but also deeply wounding."

Cupich stated on Sunday from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City that governments are responsible for protecting borders and communities.

"But we are also committed to defending all people's rights and protecting their human dignity," the statement reads.

Francis, who grew up in Argentina in an Italian-immigrant family, has long advocated for governments to welcome, protect, and integrate migrants to the extent possible. He has said that migrants' dignity and rights are more important than national security considerations.