Pope Francis said in an interview that he agrees with a statement from U.S. Catholic bishops who said the practice of separating illegal immigrant families is “contrary to our Catholic values” and “immoral.”
[Also read: Jeff Sessions uses Bible to defend zero-tolerance border policy to church leaders]
“It’s not easy, but populism is not the solution,” Francis told Reuters in an interview conducted over the weekend.
“I am on the side of the bishops’ conference,” the pope added, referring to two statements from U.S. bishops this month. “Let it be clear that in these things, I respect (the position of) the bishops conference.”
Trump has been criticized from international leaders and members of both the Democratic and Republican parties for his enforcement of the zero tolerance policy, which has led to an increase in family separations. However, the president has laid blame on Democrats for complaining without changing the laws.
“Democrats are the problem,” Trump posted to Twitter Tuesday. “They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants.”
Democrats are the problem. They don’t care about crime and want illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our Country, like MS-13. They can’t win on their terrible policies, so they view them as potential voters!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 19, 2018
