Pope Leo on Tuesday renewed his criticism of President Donald Trump’s tough anti-immigration policies, saying the administration was treating foreigners in the United States in an "extremely disrespectful" manner.
Speaking to reporters in Castel Gandolfo, his residence outside Rome, the pope called for people in the U.S. "to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have."
Leo, the first U.S. pontiff, has expressed his disapproval of the Trump administration's targeting of immigrants in increasingly strong terms in recent weeks.
In September, he called their treatment "inhuman," drawing a heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics.
Leo was asked by a journalist Tuesday about a Nov. 13 statement from the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference, which rebuked the Trump administration's polices and called for "meaningful immigration reform."
"It's a very important statement," the pope said. " I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them."
He said individual countries have a right to police their borders, but that many immigrants in the U.S. are "living good lives" and they were being treated "in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least."
