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Pope Francis Denounces Trump's Plan for Largest Deportation Operation Targeting 11 Million Migrants as 'Calamity'

Jan 19, 2025, 09:49 PM

Pope Francis has criticized U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's plan to initiate mass deportations of undocumented migrants, describing it as a 'calamity' and a 'disgrace' during an interview on Italian television. The Pope expressed concern that such actions would unfairly burden the poor, stating, 'If it's true, it will be a disgrace,' and 'This, if it is true, will be a calamity because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay.' Trump, set to be inaugurated on January 20, 2025, has promised to undertake what he describes as 'the largest deportation operation in American history,' targeting an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the U.S. Pope Francis, who previously met with Trump at the Vatican during his first term in 2017, has a history of critiquing Trump's anti-migrant policies, notably stating in 2016 that 'anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian.'