A top leader in the Roman Catholic Church has called on President-elect Donald Trump to implement a “wise policy” on immigration, as the Republican plans to bring about mass deportations.
The Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said in Rome Thursday that the church wished Trump well and “much wisdom” as he prepares to take office again in January.
The Cardinal was asked about the President-elect’s plans on immigration, which include tougher restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border and the deportation of at least 11 million undocumented migrants.
“It seems to me that the position of the Pope and the Holy See is very clear in this regard,” he told reporters at the Gregorian University. “We are for a wise policy towards immigrants and therefore one that does not go to these extremes.”
Newsweek reached out to the president-elect’s team for comment via email Thursday afternoon.
Anna Moneymaker/BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images
In October, faith leaders told Newsweek that closing the border to refugees and asylum seekers went against the country’s Christian values.
Christian refugee advocacy groups World Relief and Open Doors U.S. said that one in seven Christians worldwide was living under the threat of persecution, including those in countries like North Korea, Iran and China.
In the 2024 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, nearly 29,500 Christian refugees from 50 countries had been admitted into the U.S.
Speaking to Newsweek Thursday, World Relief’s vice president of advocacy and policy Matt Soerens said he was worried for undocumented migrants who had been in the U.S. for decades.
“Many of them have U.S.-born children, so if by mass deportation President-elect Trump means deporting all undocumented immigrants, that would mean deporting the parents of 4 to 5 million children,” Soerens said.
“That would be very troubling to us at World Relief and the vast majority of Evangelical Christians, 91 percent of whom say immigration policy should preserve the unity of the family.”
Soerens said immigrant churches across the U.S. were feeling concerned that their members could be swept up in mass deportations, should the program come to pass.
On Thursday, Cardinal Parolin said Pope Francis had given precise and clear indications on migration, saying that “this is the only way to address the problems and solve them in a humane manner.”
The Pope has spoken on the issue of immigration worldwide since his election in 2013, with the numbers of those displaced through conflict and extreme weather only growing since. Speaking in August, the Pope criticized those who stood in the way of migrants finding refuge.
“There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin,” he said.
Soerens said World Relief would be working over the coming months to encourage the Biden administration to protect those in the U.S. under programs like Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole, such as those from Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba, while also calling for reforms to punishments for undocumented migrants when Trump takes office.
“If Congress would act on this, that could be a fine and not deportation to a country they haven’t seen in 30 years in some cases and that their U.S.-born children have never seen,” he said.