Border czar Tom Homan told Newsmax on Friday that Pope Francis should focus on "fixing the Catholic Church" and leave America's national security to the Trump administration.
Homan joined "Rob Schmitt Tonight" to react to remarks the pope made this week, calling mass deportations being carried out by the Trump administration a "disgrace." Homan countered that the Catholic Church is a "mess."
"Well, let me give a message to the pope: I'm a lifelong Catholic. I was born Catholic. I've been through Catholic doctrine," he said.
"Look, you only concentrate on fixing the Catholic Church, first of all. He's got big problems there."
Pope Francis said during an interview Sunday, "If this is true, it is a disgrace, because it makes the poor unfortunate who have nothing pay the price of imbalance. This is not how things are solved."
Homan would have none of it. "And in the Vatican, they have a wall around the Vatican. And if you illegally enter the Vatican, the crime is serious. You know, 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, where American people are not allowed that? No," he said.
"Securing the border saves lives. He needs to understand that when we secure the border, when less people come, less women get raped by the cartels. Less children die in the river. Less Americans die from fentanyl overdoses.
"He ought to stick to the Catholic Church and fix that. That's a mess," he said.
Regarding the crackdown of illegal immigration, Homan told host Schmitt that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week has arrested 2,000 public safety threats and removed 6,400 through Thursday alone.
"I've never seen anything like this," Homan said.
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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