Pope Francis condemns Donald Trump’s deportations of immigrants plan – ‘it will be a disgrace’

Pope Francis has criticised President-elect Donald Trump's reported plans to intensify immigration enforcement actions across the United States in the days after his inauguration. Trump will officially be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States of America on Monday, January 20.

Pope Francis said in an interview with an Italian news channel on Sunday that it would be a ‘disgrace’ if Trump went forward with the plan, news agency Reuters reported.

"If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing to pay the unpaid bill. It won’t do. This is not the way to solve things,” Francis said during the interview, as reported by CNN.

The pontiff made these remarks during a video link from his Vatican residence with the Che Tempo Che Fa programme on Italy's Channel 9.

Leader of the 1.4 billion-member church

Francis, leader of the 1.4 billion-member church, is usually careful about weighing in on political issues.

Advocacy for migrants is a key part of Pope Francis' papacy, as he insists they should be welcomed and integrated into societies. In 2016, Pope Francis suggested that the then-presidential candidate Trump was ‘not Christian’ for his anti-immigration views.

Francis has also signalled he is ready to take a critical approach to the new Trump administration with his appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the next archbishop of Washington, DC, CNN said. McElroy has described mass deportations of immigrants as “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”

Trump has vowed to begin enacting the largest mass deportation operation in US history on Day 1 of his presidency. Officials said on Saturday, as reported by Reuters, that the president-elect was reconsidering plans for immigration raids in Chicago next week following reports about the plans.

200 orders

Trump is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions on the first day after being inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States of America on Monday, January 20.

These Inauguration Day orders will focus on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government, Fox News said.

(With agency inputs)