In a significant and direct criticism, Pope Francis expressed profound concern on Tuesday over the US administration’s intensive migration expulsion plans. The Pope highlighted that the forceful repatriation of individuals based strictly on their unauthorized status strips them of their fundamental human dignity, predicting a catastrophic outcome. Unusually, the Pope addressed this intensifying problem of U.S. migration in a written communication to U.S. bishops. It seemed he was targeting Vice President JD Vance’s theological endorsement of the deportation policy in particular.
U.S. migration official Tom Homan immediately retorted, referencing the Vatican’s status as a fortified city-state and suggesting that Francis should not interfere with border management, leaving it to his department. Pope Francis is the first Pope of Latin American origin and has established providing care for migrants as a focal point of his pontificate. He frequently quotes the biblical instruction to ‘welcome the stranger.’ He insists that nations should extend hospitality, safeguard, encourage, and assimilate those escaping warfare, poverty, and environmental catastrophes.
Furthermore, the Pope reasons that it is a government’s responsibility to tackle the issue within their capacity. The differences between Pope Francis and President Donald Trump on the topic of migration are no secret, dating to even before Trump’s initial term. In 2016, Francis famously condemned any move to erect a wall to stop migrants, calling such a person ‘not a Christian.’ In his latest communication, the Pope acknowledged the sovereign right of countries to guard themselves and ensure the safety of their citizens from criminal elements.
However, the Pope also highlighted that the deportation of individuals, who in many cases have abandoned their homeland due to severe poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious environmental decay, harms the dignity of numerous individuals and families. It puts them in a state of unique vulnerability. The Pope drew on the Book of Exodus and the experiences of Jesus Christ, articulating the right of individuals to seek refuge and safety in foreign territories, referring to the deportation scheme as a ‘major crisis’ beginning to surface in the U.S.
Pope Francis wrote that anyone educated in Christianity ‘cannot avoid making a critical assessment and expressing their disagreement with any action that tacitly or openly categorizes the illegal status of some migrants with law-breaking.’ He cautioned, ‘What is constructed on the basis of force, and not on the acknowledgement of every human’s equal dignity, starts badly and will conclude badly.’ Archbishop Timothy Broglio, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, replied with his thanks.
His letter to Pope Francis stated: ‘Together with you, we pray for the U.S. government to uphold its earlier promises to assist those in dire need. I boldly request your continuous prayers for our nation to find the courage to establish a more humane immigration system, one that ensures the safety of our communities while safeguarding every individual’s dignity.’
Last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reported that over 8,000 individuals had been apprehended in immigration enforcement actions since President Trump’s most recent inauguration on January 20. Some of these detainees have already been deported, while others remain in federal prisons or at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
Vice President JD Vance, a converted Catholic, justified the administration’s prioritization of America by invoking a medieval Catholic theological idea known as ‘ordo amoris,’ which outlines a caregiving hierarchy. This starts with the family, then extends to neighbors, the wider community, fellow citizens, and at last, others globally. However, Pope Francis seemed to rectify Vance’s interpretation of this concept in his letter.
The Pope explained Christian love was not a gradual expansion of interests to embrace other individuals or groups. ‘The true ordo amoris that should be endorsed is what we discover when continually reflecting on the Good Samaritan parable, signifying, contemplating on the love that fosters a brotherhood accessible to all, without exemption,’ he wrote.
Gibson, the head of the Fordham University Center for Religion and Culture, expressed in a social media post that Pope Francis’s letter ‘counters every single irrational theological claim made by JD Vance and his conservative Catholic supporters.’ Vance’s citation of the ordo amoris earned support from many American Catholic conservatives, including the Catholic League, which affirmed his premise about the Christian love hierarchy.
Eric Sammons, Crisis Magazine’s editor, wrote that Vance was merely building on the wisdom of Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and the broader Church teachings to argue for an ordered love. ‘For Augustine, every form of love, even love for a neighbor, must be subordinated beneath love for God. This hierarchy extends to our human relationships where love for family, community, and nation should precede our love for the wider world, although not in strength but in precedence of obligation and responsibility,’ he asserted.
Tom Homan, a state migration official and a Catholic, proposed that the Pope focus on rectifying issues within the Catholic Church and let his office take care of U.S. border security. ‘He criticizes us for securing our border. The Vatican has walls around it, does it not?’ inquired Homan during a press encounter, whose video was uploaded on a news outlet. ‘Hence, the Vatican is surrounded by walls that safeguard its inhabitants and the Pope, but we cannot have a wall around the United States?’
The Vatican, a city-state with walls that occupies 44 hectares within Rome, has recently hiked penalties for those illegally entering the territory. Anyone crossing into the territory using force, threat, or deceit, such as bypassing security checkpoints, can be punished with a prison sentence of up to four years and a hefty fine.
Previously, US bishops had issued an unusually severe statement following President Trump’s initial executive approvals. The bishops said his orders focused on immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, the expansion of capital punishment, and the environment would create severe problems, negatively impacting the weakest. Their statement constituted a significant criticism from the U.S. Catholic Church, which identifies abortion as the priority for Catholic voters and appreciated the 2022 Supreme Court ruling to end constitutional protections for abortion facilitated by justices appointed by Trump.