Border czar Tom Homan voiced his disagreement with Pope Francis over border policy after the pontiff claimed that the Trump administration’s agenda of deporting illegal aliens is a “disgrace.”
Francis also said that “poor wretches that don’t have anything” would “foot the bill” of deportations.
Homan, who prefaced his remarks to Newsmax by saying he is a lifelong Catholic, pointed out that the Pope’s comments failed to acknowledge that the Vatican City has substantial security measures to protect itself from unknown entrants.
“They have a wall around the Vatican,” Homan said. “And if you illegally enter the Vatican, the crime is serious — you’ll be charged with a serious crime, be jailed.”
“So he can protect the Vatican where he lives, he can build a wall where he lives, but American people are not allowed that? No,” Homan added, balking at the inconsistency.
NEW: Border Czar Tom Homan responds to Catholic outcry over Trump’s deportation operation, calls out the Pope for living behind massive 30 foot walls.
Homan told the Pope to fix the Catholic church before he starts criticizing the United States.
“They have a wall around the… pic.twitter.com/YTRoZ7DIH5
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 25, 2025
The career law enforcement official also warned about the broader consequences of failing to enforce immigration law in the United States.
“Securing the border saves lives. He needs to understand that,” Homan continued. “When less people come, less women get raped by the cartel, less children die in the river, less Americans die from fentanyl overdoses.”
Homan said that Francis “ought to stick to the Catholic church and fix that, [since] that’s a mess.”
Homan correctly noted that the Vatican has strict border security measures.
In fact, only weeks before President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office, the Holy See issued an order considerably increasing the monetary penalties and prison sentences of anyone who illegally enters the Vatican, according to a report from Catholic News Agency.
Anyone who tries to improperly enter the state can now be fined between 10,000 and 25,000 euros, the equivalent of roughly $9,500 to $24,000, and face between one and four years of prison time.
Those convicted of illegal entry also face bans from the Vatican territory for up to 15 years.
Various popes through the centuries have projected their power and safeguarded against invasions by constructing walls, many of which stand to this day.
Francis, who comes from the notoriously liberal Jesuit branch of the Roman church, frequently makes similar claims about caring for the poor and the oppressed, especially with respect to mass immigration into Europe from the very Islamic countries against which his predecessors were defending.
But the response from Homan actually demonstrated more Christian virtue than the critiques of Francis.
Homan rightly pointed out that unless the government enforces the laws on behalf of the innocent, like the women and children trafficked across the border, then evil will run rampant in society.
But liberals like Francis try to subvert the ability of strong and virtuous men to defend the innocent by making emotionally potent but baseless appeals about the oppressed or the needy, all while completely ignoring the massive harm that failing to enforce the law inflicts on such people.
That is the only “disgrace” in this conversation.
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