“Border czar” Tom Homan bristled at Pope Francis over his recent criticism of President Donald Trump‘s deportation agenda.
Homan briefly spoke to reporters Tuesday morning at the White House, where he said he was “not satisfied” with the number of arrests of criminal illegal immigrants the administration has logged during Trump’s first weeks in office.
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Pope Francis, the first pope of Latin American descent, has been a longtime critic of Trump. He warned in a Monday service that the Trump administration’s policies, which are yielding three times as many arrests of criminal illegal immigrants as this time last year, “will end badly.”
Asked about that critique Tuesday, Homan said he had “harsh words for the Pope.”
“The Pope won’t fix the Catholic Church,” Homan said. “I’m saying this as a lifelong Catholic, baptized Catholic, first communion Catholic, confirmation Catholic: You ought to fix the Catholic Church and concentrate on his work and leave border enforcement to us.
“He wants to attack us for securing our border — he’s got a wall around the Vatican, does he not? So he’s got a wall around to protect his people and himself, but we can’t have a wall around the United States? I wish he’d stick to the Catholic Church and fix that and leave border enforcement to us.”
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, has also feuded with American Catholic leaders in recent weeks regarding the Trump administration’s deportation policies.
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Vance accused the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops of helping resettle refugees as a way of protecting its “bottom line,” in reference to the $100 million in federal grants the organization receives.
Bishops criticized the Trump administration last month over the way it was conducting immigration enforcement, with raids permitted in schools and churches.
Trump border czar rebuffs pope over immigration criticism
