Pope strongly backs US bishops in blasting Trump immigration crackdown, urges humane treatment

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday strongly backed U.S. bishops who condemned the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, as he urged the American people to listen to them and treat migrants humanely.

- CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP)

POPE LEO XIV waves to faithful after a special mass for the Jubilee of the poor, in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, Nov.16, 2025. (AP Photo/ Gregorio Borgia)

(AP Photo Gregorio Borgia)

History's first American pope was asked about the “special message” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted during the bishops’ general assembly last week. The text criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation of migrants and the “vilification” of them in the current migration debate. It lamented the fear and anxiety immigration raids have sown in communities, and the denial of pastoral care to migrants in detention centers.