By Joanna Prisco
The leader of the Catholic Church has officially condemned Trump’s migrant family separation policy.
Pope Francis joined the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops this week in criticizing the White House’s “zero-tolerance” response to undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, which has so far resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from family members as they await hearings or deportation.
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“It’s not easy, but populism is not the solution,” Francis told Reuters Wednesday, adding that such immigration practices were “creating psychosis.”
In the interview with Reuters, Francis stated that he is “on the side of the bishops’ conference” which called the policy “immoral” and “contrary to our Catholic values.”
Bishop Joe Vásquez, chairman of the group’s Committee on Migration, has also written US representatives, urging them to draft legislation that is “pro-family” and “respectful of human dignity,” according to Time.
Pope Francis continued to express his feelings on the issue via Twitter for World Refugee Day.
A person's dignity does not depend on them being a citizen, a migrant, or a refugee. Saving the life of someone fleeing war and poverty is an act of humanity. #WithRefugees@M_RSection
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) June 20, 2018
Read More: World Political and Religious Leaders Condemn US Policy of Separating Migrant Kids
The Pope’s statements come as more information has been revealed by the Associated Press regarding three “tender age” shelters housing migrant infants and preschool-age children, and a Washington Post report regarding a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome, who has been separated from her mother and held at a detention center located 60 miles away.
President Trump has so far defended the policy as necessary, blaming his political opponents for a fractured immigration system that allows “illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest our country, like [the gang] MS-13,” reported The Independent.
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