The Holy See made the comments in response to questions about the incoming president’s policies during an interview on Italy’s “Che tempo che fa” talk show on January 19, the Catholic News Agency reported. He called Trump’s immigration plans a “disgrace.”

“If this is true, it is a disgrace because it makes the poor unfortunate who have nothing pay the price of imbalance,” Francis said. “This is not how things are solved.”

This is not the first time the pope has rebuked the president-elect’s position on illegal immigrants. In September 2024, Pope Francis criticized then-candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump when asked a question about the U.S. presidential election. The pope blasted Harris’s position on abortion and Trump’s immigration stance.

“They are both against life — the one who throws away migrants and the one who kills children,” Francis said at the time. 

The pontiff has regularly spoken about immigration and is a staunch supporter of it. He previously claimed that immigration was a human right, often citing passages from the Bible to emphasize his point. In August 2024, while the political discourse in Europe focused on illegal immigration, the pope scolded those against immigration. While speaking at the Vatican, Pope Francis claimed that anyone who drove immigrants away or deterred them from coming was committing a “grave sin.”

“It needs to be said clearly: There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin,” the pope said.