Pope Leo XIV Blasts Trump Deportations: 'Extremely Disrespectful' to Long-Time Residents

Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement Tuesday, calling the administration’s treatment of long-term undocumented residents "extremely disrespectful" and "troubling."

Speaking to reporters at his summer residence outside Rome, the Chicago-born pope addressed the ongoing mass deportation operation.

"We have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have," Pope Leo said. "If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts. There’s a system of justice."

"No one has said that the United States should have open borders," he continued. "I think every country has the right to determine who enters, how, and when."

The pope then added, "when people have lived good lives—many of them for 10, 15, 20 years—treating them in a way that is, to say the least, extremely disrespectful, and with instances of violence, is troubling."

The remarks follow the pope’s weekend call for U.S. authorities to allow detained migrants to receive Holy Communion.

The Trump administration says it has removed or prompted the departure of more than two million people since the president took office in January.

"The Trump Administration is on pace to shatter historic records and deport nearly 600,000 illegal aliens by the end of President Donald Trump’s first year since returning to office," Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. "More than 2 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. including 1.6 million who have voluntarily self-deported and over 527,000 deportations."

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker met privately with Pope Leo at the Vatican Wednesday.

Pritzker later told NBC Chicago the pontiff praised his resistance to federal deportation raids.

"[The Pope] had read about my work in Illinois to stand up for immigrants and he believes strongly that it’s our obligation as human beings to stand up for one another and especially because immigrants are often the most vulnerable," Pritzker said.

And that’s the way it is—another open border advocate in a fancy hat lecturing a sovereign nation while illegal aliens flood across the Rio Grande, overrun cities, and strain every public resource.

The same pope who walls off Vatican City now demands America roll over for cartel smugglers and endless chain migration. Americans voted for secure borders, not sanctimonious scolding from a globalist in white.