'Fix Catholic Church First': Trump's Border Czar Fires Back At Pope Francis Over Deportation Plan

Last Updated:January 25, 2025, 18:49 IST

Trump's immigration officials have arrested more than 1,000 people in two days as part of his plan to deport thousands of illegal immigrants. Pope Francis had called these plans a "disgrace".

A war of words erupted between Trump's border czar Tom Homan and Pope Francis. (Reuters)

As US President Donald Trump began his promised deportation campaign, a war of words erupted between Trump’s border czar Tom Homan and Pope Francis after the pontiff expressed disapproval of the plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

The deportation blitz began as Trump signed executive orders that gave immigration officers extraordinary new powers to conduct fast-track deportations on a large scale in several cities. Moreover, the US President even scrapped restrictions that kept “sensitive" locations like churches and schools off-limits for immigration officers, according to The Washington Post.

Shortly before Trump’s inauguration, Pope Francis said his plans to impose mass deportations of immigrants would be a “disgrace", nearly a decade after calling him “not Christian" for wanting to build a wall along the US-Mexican border.

During an appearance at an evening talk show, Francis said, “If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill" for the problem, Francis said. “This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved."

Trump Official Accuses Pope Of ‘Hypocrisy’

In a televised interview, Homan accused the Pope of hypocrisy, pointing towards a wall around the Vatican for safety measures. “They have a wall around the Vatican. If you illegally enter the Vatican, the crime is serious. You’ll be charged with a serious crime in jail," he said.

“So he can protect the Vatican where he lives. He can build a wall where he lives, but the American people are not allowed that. No. Securing the border saves lives. He needs to understand that if we secure the border, when less people come, less women get raped by the cartel, less children die in the river, less Americans die from Fentanyl overdoses," he added.

Homan also called on the Pope to focus on the issues in the Vatican Church, saying they have a lot of problems. “The Pope ought to stick to the Catholic Church and fix that. That’s a mess," he said.

Meanwhile, Trump’s immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) department arrested 538 people on Thursday, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and officials said 593 more people were arrested on Friday. “The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway," Leavitt wrote on X on Thursday.

“Deportation flights have begun. President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences," she later added. Homan also said officials had apprehended more than 3,000 people with criminal records in the first couple days of the administration.

Many US bishops have firmly opposed Trump’s deportation plan, with the incoming archbishop of Washington DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, saying such policies were “incompatible with Catholic doctrine". It was a reference to the Biblical call to “welcome the stranger".

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

News world 'Fix Catholic Church First': Trump's Border Czar Fires Back At Pope Francis Over Deportation Plan