Pope Francis denounced efforts to limit migration at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, calling Texas’ effort to shut down a Catholic charity “madness.”
The Catholic leader said in a “60 Minutes” interview with Norah O’Donnell that American leaders should instead embrace forgiveness toward migrants entering the country.
“Migration is something that makes a country grow,” he said. “They say you Irish migrated and brought whiskey, and the Italians migrated and brought the mafia. Migrants sometimes suffer a lot. They suffer a lot.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) tried in February to subpoena Annunciation House, a Catholic charity that serves as a temporary boarding house for migrants from Mexico. He accused the group of “harboring aliens, human smuggling and operating a safe house.”
“This is crazy. Pure madness,” said Francis. “Closing the border and leaving them there is crazy.”
“The migrant must be welcomed,” he continued, defending against the Republican Party’s efforts to close the southern border. “After that, you see how you are going to deal with him. Maybe you have to send him back, I don’t know, but each case must be considered humanely.”
A Texas judge blocked Paxton’s subpoena against Annunciation House in March, although his office filed a similar complaint against the charity again on Friday.
The Pope’s comments come at a time when Congress is once again paralyzed in discussions on border reform. After a previously negotiated bipartisan agreement collapsed in February, few attempts were made to restart negotiations on an issue that Republicans dubbed a “crisis.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) considered reintroducing the bipartisan agreement in recent days but received pushback from immigration advocacy groups.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
