ROME — Pope Francis issued a major rebuke Tuesday to the Trump administration’s mass deportation of migrants, warning that the program to forcefully deport people purely because of their illegal status deprives them of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”

Francis emphasized that immigration laws and policies should be subordinated to the dignified treatment of people, especially the most vulnerable.

In a letter to US bishops, the Catholic leader warned that the plan will harm the already vulnerable. View on euronews

Faced with United States President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan, Pope Francis has published a letter chastising the policy and calling faithful and politicians alike to care for the poor and those whose dignity is threatened.

In the letter, the pope said the criminalization of migrants and the mass deportations planned by the U.S. government are dangerous and called the country's current immigration policies a “major crisis.

Pope Francis sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in an unusual open letter sent to America's Catholic bishops on Tuesday. The pope, who earlier called Trump's plan to millions of migrants a "disgrace",

Francis took the remarkable step of addressing the U.S. migrant crackdown in a letter to U.S. bishops in which he appeared to take direct aim at Vice President JD Vance's defense

In an extraordinary intervention, Pope Francis also took aim at Vice President JD Vance's theological justification for the deportation program.