Politico
By Nahal Toosi
February 17, 2016
Without
ever naming him, Pope Francis rebuked Donald Trump and other GOP
immigration hardliners during a visit Wednesday to the U.S.-Mexico
border.
The
79-year-old Roman Catholic leader, joined by a crowd of thousands, led
Mass at a field in Ciudad Juarez, just a few hundred feet away from the
United States. The popular
pontiff also laid flowers at a nearby memorial honoring migrants, many
of whom have died as they tried to cross the border.
Francis
(or Francisco, as the crowds call him in Spanish) made the stop in the
gritty border city at the end of a six-day visit to Mexico. The visit to
Juarez, which was
streamed live to crowds gathered in a sports stadium just across the
border in El Paso, Texas, also came as immigration policy continues to
spur spirited debate in the GOP presidential primary race.
"We
cannot deny the humanitarian crisis which in recent years has meant
migration for thousands of people, whether by train or highway or on
foot, crossing hundreds of
kilometers through mountains, deserts and inhospitable zones. The human
tragedy that is forced migration is a global phenomenon today," Francis
said. "This crisis which can be measured in numbers and statistics, we
want instead to measure with names, stories,
families. They are the brothers and sisters of those expelled by
poverty and violence, by drug trafficking and criminal organizations.
Being faced with so many legal vacuums, they get caught up in a web that
ensnares and always destroys the poorest."
Francis
went on to urge listeners to ask God "to give us open hearts" to
respond to the suffering of migrants. "No more death! No more
exploitation! There is still time
to change, there is still a way out and a chance, time to implore the
mercy of God," he said.
Trump
— who once described Mexican migrants as "rapists" and insisted that he
will get Mexico to pay for a "beautiful" wall along the border — has
criticized the pope
for his border visit, calling him a "very political person."
"I
think that he doesn’t understand the problems our country has. I don’t
think he understands the danger of the open border that we have with
Mexico," the real estate
mogul said on Thursday. Trump also alleged that Mexico pushed the pope
to visit "because Mexico wants to keep the border just the way it is
because they’re making a fortune, and we’re losing.”
Trump
made his own trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in July, causing a great
spectacle as he doubled down on his warnings about the misdeeds of
undocumented immigrants.
The
Vatican reportedly has called Trump's comments "very strange" and
pointed out that the welfare of migrants has long been a passion for
Francis. The Argentine-born
pontiff is the first pope from Latin America and he has unflinchingly
confronted a range of hot-button issues, including same-sex marriage and
climate change. In Europe, which is struggling to cope with a huge wave
of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan
and other troubled countries, the pope has called on Catholic parishes
to take in refugee families.
During
a visit to the United States last September, the pope repeatedly
discussed immigration, including in a historic speech to Congress.
Francis urged lawmakers to show
kindness to migrants and asylum seekers, reminding them that they
themselves were descended from immigrants who helped build America.
His admonitions had limited effect.
After
November's terrorist attacks in Paris, Republicans, along with many
Democrats, tried, but ultimately failed, to severely restrict Syrian and
Iraqi refugees from
entering the United States. GOP presidential candidates, including
Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, both of whom are
Cuban-Americans, are fighting over who is more hard-line on immigration
policy.
President
Barack Obama has deported record numbers of undocumented immigrants,
angering the U.S. Latino community, all while trying to persuade the
GOP-led Congress to
come to terms on a comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system.
The president's efforts to offer millions of undocumented immigrants
work permits and a reprieve from deportation, meanwhile, have been
blocked by the courts after lawsuits were filed by
Republicans.
The
pope did not offer specific immigration policy proposals for the United
States, or even directly delve into the politics. But his border
appearance Wednesday could
nonetheless resonate on the campaign trail, or at least among the
growing population of American voters who are of Hispanic descent.
"He’s
one of the leading moral authorities in the world," said Kevin Appleby,
a former director of migration policy at the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops. "He’s got
bigger things to do than worry about what Donald Trump is saying."
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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