- Share via
If I believed in miracles as strongly as I did as a Catholic school student, I could hope that Vice President JD Vance would be transformed by his audience with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday just hours before the pope died, that he’d embrace Francis’ compassionate views on the world’s migrants. But I don’t much believe in miracles anymore, especially for the veep. He’s too covetous of earthly, political rewards.
Still, thank God that Francis left some final words — for Vance, a Catholic convert; for other Catholics (a majority of whom voted for Donald Trump and Vance, polls showed); and for people of any or no religious persuasion — castigating the administration’s heartless as well as lawless deportation efforts.
Vance will almost certainly ignore the pope’s legacy. President Trump, who will attend Francis’ funeral Saturday, surely will. After all, Francis’ admonition in 2016 regarding then-candidate Trump — “A person who thinks only about building walls … and not building bridges, is not Christian” — didn’t diminish Trump’s anti-immigrant zeal. Nonetheless, Francis’ words stand as a reproach to the administration’s current policies, a pastoral shot heard ‘round the world.
It is not hyperbole to say that the future of our constitutional democracy may turn on the case of the alleged Venezuelan gangsters sent to El Salvador and the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the lawful U.S. resident swept up in that action.
After his brief meeting with Vance, the wheelchair-bound Francis went to the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. He rasped a short Easter blessing; an archbishop read his full Easter message to the 35,000 people below and millions watching by video.
“How much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants!” Francis lamented. “I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear, which only leads to isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development. These are the weapons of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death.”
Of course, the pope had just encountered one of the worst contempt-stirrers. It was Vance who, in the closing weeks of the 2024 campaign, first spread lies about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, which Trump echoed with gusto despite local Republicans’ pleas to stop. Neo-Nazis arrived to intimidate the refugees to leave. Trump, referring to the Haitians as well as other migrants nationwide, told supporters in Wisconsin, “Getting them out will be a bloody story.”
The story hasn’t been bloody — yet. But it’s a cruel one. The Washington Post, in a front-page story on Monday next to the one about Vance’s visit with Francis, reported on conditions in crowded U.S. migrant detention centers. “You’re stripped from your humanity,” América Platt told the Post. She spent four sleepless nights on a floor mat in a Texas center after being arrested for an unresolved traffic ticket, the Post reported, and then was deported to Mexico, where she hadn’t lived since fleeing an abusive father two decades ago.
Political theorist Hannah Arendt came of age in Germany as Hitler came to power. Her life and writings have a chilling resonance for Americans today.
Though Trump and border czar Tom Homan say they’re only rousting criminals, about half of those detained by border officials have no criminal charges or convictions, according to federal data. The overwhelming number of migrants now languishing in a Salvadoran gulag have no criminal record, media investigations found. Meanwhile, immigrants here legally are seeing their status revoked, some have been snatched by hooded agents and many detained or deported without due process.
The Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun reported last week that a majority of the city’s Haitian population, most of whom are legal U.S. residents, remain there despite Trump’s threats to revoke their immigration status and deport them. “They don’t have any other place to go in the U.S.A. where they will not be facing the same issue,” Vilès Dorsainvil, president of a local Haitian assistance group, told the newspaper.
Vance has helped see to that. In his first interview after becoming vice president, he attacked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for opposing Trump’s policy of allowing immigration agents to enter and search churches and schools; he suggested the bishops were fretful about losing federal subsidies for their migrant aid programs: “Are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” he snarkily asked on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
That’s why he should be in a U.S. court, not a Salvadoran prison: He, like anyone accused of a crime, needs a chance to be convicted or cleared.
Otherwise Trump-friendly Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York condemned Vance’s remarks as “scurrilous,” noting that immigration aid is a money loser even with federal funds. The bishops’ conference is suing the government to get millions owed to the church. Earlier this month, Catholic leaders cited ongoing federal cuts in ending a longtime partnership with the government that resettles migrants who’ve fled violence, persecution and poverty, as well as a separate program for undocumented migrant children.
Francis was watching all this. “I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” he wrote to U.S. bishops in February, in a letter that implicitly rebutted Vance’s criticism. “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment.”
The pope acknowledged a nation’s right to police its borders, but urged openness toward innocents fleeing “extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment” — as Jesus, Mary and Joseph did when they fled to Egypt.
“What would Jesus do?” the question goes. Not what Trump and Vance are doing, Francis made clear in his letter — as he did again in his Easter address before he died.
This isn’t to argue that government leaders should take their cues from a pope in Rome. Unlike MAGA Republicans (and the conservative Catholic justices who dominate the Supreme Court), I’m among the majority of Americans who support a strong wall between church and state. But some public actions are so heinous that a pope is compelled to speak, and we should too. And for God’s sake, politicians should listen.
Insights
L.A. Times Insights delivers AI-generated analysis on Voices content to offer all points of view. Insights does not appear on any news articles.
Viewpoint
Perspectives
The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content.
Ideas expressed in the piece
- Pope Francis’ final public address emphasized compassion for migrants, urging global leaders to reject “the logic of fear” and prioritize humanitarian aid over isolationist policies[1]. His Easter message specifically criticized policies that dehumanize vulnerable groups, calling for initiatives that foster development and peace[1].
- In a February letter to U.S. bishops, Francis acknowledged nations’ rights to secure borders but stressed the moral imperative to welcome those fleeing poverty, persecution, or environmental crises, framing immigration as a matter of conscience[1]. He implicitly rebuked the administration’s mass deportations, asking, “What would Jesus do?” and highlighting the disparity between Gospel values and current policies[1].
- The article underscores Francis’ legacy of challenging political leaders to align their actions with ethical principles, particularly through his critiques of policies targeting migrants and his defense of due process for asylum seekers[1].
Different views on the topic
- The Trump administration has prioritized strict immigration enforcement, expanding detention centers and deporting migrants—including those with legal status—often without due process[1]. Vice President JD Vance dismisses religious leaders’ humanitarian concerns, suggesting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes deportation policies for financial rather than moral reasons[1].
- Federal data indicate that approximately half of detained migrants lack criminal charges, contradicting claims that deportations focus solely on dangerous individuals[1]. Policies have led to the revocation of legal residency status and the separation of families, with reports of hooded agents conducting arrests[1].
- Vance and Trump have amplified narratives linking migrants to societal disorder, such as false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio, which spurred neo-Nazi vigilantism[1]. The administration defends these measures as necessary for national security, despite criticism from Catholic leaders and international observers[1].
Get the latest from Jackie Calmes
Commentary on politics and more from award-winning opinion columnist.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
