Overview
- He voiced support after being asked in Castel Gandolfo about the U.S. bishops’ November 13 statement on immigration.
- He urged Americans to heed the bishops’ message, which denounces mass deportations, the vilification of migrants, and blocked pastoral care in detention centers.
- He emphasized that many migrants have lived in the United States for 10 to 20 years and warned that some enforcement has involved violence.
- He stressed that no one is calling for open borders, noting that immigration cases should be addressed through the U.S. judicial system.
- The bishops’ statement was a rare single-issue intervention by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, their first of its kind since 2013.