Pope Francis openly opposes Trump’s immigration policy

Feb 22, 2025

VATICAN: Breaking from his usual reserve regarding political leaders, Pope Francis decided to take up his pen in this “delicate moment” in US history by addressing a letter to American bishops, which was made public February 11. In this letter, the Pope strongly opposes the Trump administration — without directly naming the president — and its plan to deport undocumented migrants. He denounces an ideology that “imposes the will of the strongest as a criterion of truth.”

In this two-page letter, the head of the Catholic Church states that he is “closely following the great crisis unfolding in the United States with the launch of a mass deportation programme.” Not long after his inauguration, President Donald Trump initiated his plan to arrest and expel undocumented migrants — estimated at 11 million — just as he had promised during his campaign. According to CNN, the White House planned to prosecute state and local officials who resisted the federal crackdown on immigration.

In response to these measures, Pope Francis called for “critical judgment,” asserting that a “wellformed” conscience can only “express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.” The Pope distinguishes between a nation’s right to defend its security and 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 defencelessness.”

Strongly opposed to identitybased politics, Pope Francis noted that the presidential programme follows “an ideological criterion that distorts social life.” The development of “an orderly and legal migration” cannot be achieved “through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others,” he emphasises. He warns: “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.”

In his letter, the Pope defended “the infinite and transcendent dignity” of every human being “without exception.” He insisted that this dignity must take precedence over “any other legal consideration,” urging policymakers to “consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.”

Throughout the text, the Pope articulates an anthropology in which the human person “is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings” but rather, “a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation.”

Addressing the US bishops, the Pope exhorted them to continue defending “those who are considered less valuable, less important, or less human.” He encouraged the Catholic faithful “not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters.”

The Pope’s letter comes amid growing tensions between American bishops and the government. Just two days after Trump’s inauguration, January 22, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops declared in a statement that his immigrationrelated executive orders were “deeply troubling” and “would have negative consequences.”

Beyond repressive measures, the White House has also made budget cuts to funds allocated for immigrant and refugee assistance, severely impacting the services of the bishops’ conference, which has already been forced to lay off around 50 employees. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the newly appointed Archbishop of Washington, described these policies as a “war of fear and terror.”

Vice President J.D. Vance accused the bishops of supporting illegal migrants to secure federal funding, to which Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York responded by calling these remarks “slanderous” and “malicious.”

This is not the first time Pope Francis has broken from his usual restraint to criticise Trump’s policies. During Trump’s inauguration, the Pope urged him to “build a society (…) where there is no room for hatred, discrimination, or exclusion.” The day before, on Jan 19, during an Italian television programme, the pontiff publicly called Trump’s immigration policy “a disgrace.” “This will force the poorest, most unfortunate people who have nothing to pay the price for this imbalance,” he lamented.