Pope Francis Says Trump Isn't 'Pro-Life' If He Ends DACA

The president gets another high-profile critic of his most recent immigration decision
By Josh Rosenblatt,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 11, 2017 4:19 PM CDT
Pope Francis Says Trump Isn't 'Pro-Life' If He Ends DACA
   (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, pool)

Since President Trump made the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, he has received criticism from across the political and social spectrum, from immigrants-rights groups and Fortune 500 CEOs to evangelical Christian preachers and Republican members of Congress. Now the president can add the pope to that list. On Monday, Pope Francis addressed the DACA issue during a press conference while returning from a trip to Colombia, the Hill reports, saying the president should reconsider his decision to rescind the program if he actually wants to be "pro-life." "The president of the United States presents himself as pro-life and if he is a good pro-lifer, he understands that family is the cradle of life and its unity must be protected," Francis said.

This isn't the first time the pope and the president have squared off. Last year, Francis criticized then-candidate Trump's proposed border wall between the US and Mexico, saying building walls is "not Christian," CNN reports. Trump responded by calling the pope's comments a "disgrace." And Francis isn't the only Catholic official upset over Trump's DACA plans. Last week the US Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke out against the president's decision, to which former Trump adviser Steve Bannon responded by saying Catholic churches in the US have an "economic interest" in seeing DACA survive. "They need illegal aliens to fill the churches," Bannon told CBS News. (That shiner under the pope's eye? Blame the popemobile.)

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