DONALD TRUMP’S BORDER Czar has hit out at comments from Pope Leo XIV about US immigration policy.

Tom Homan, who is a practicing Catholic, said the religion supports law enforcement, and the Pope “should too”.

Since he was elected last May, the Chicago-born pontiff has taken a clear stand against some decisions by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Pope Leo has denounced the “inhuman” treatment of migrants in the US, urged dialogue in Venezuela and lamented a “diplomacy of force”.

He recently declined an invitation to join Trump’s “Board of Peace”, which the president says aims to resolve international conflicts. Trump has been handpicking world leaders to sit on the board, and chose himself to chair.

Asked to respond to the Pope’s comments on US policy, border Czar Homan said he “oughta be fixing the Catholic Church, because they got their own issues”.

Tom Homan speaks as President Donald Trump listens at an event last year Alamy Alamy

“Bottom line is, if we jump the wall of the Vatican, the penalties for doing that are much harder than ones here in United States,” he said.

Homan said thousands of migrants, who he called “aliens”, die trying to enter the United States illegally.

“When you’re overwhelmed at border patrol, all the bad things happen. Sex trafficking increases. Fentanyl increases,” he said.

“Securing the border saves lives.”

Homan claimed Trump is “saving thousands of lives” through his extreme policies.

Homan is an ally of Trump’s and has decades of experience in immigration policy across both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Cautiously opposed

“Leo is very cautious. He knows his voice is universal. As an American, he is somewhat the natural opponent of Trumpism,” a Vatican source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“On the United States, he’s walking on eggshells.

“He understands that the American Church is also targeted by ICE, people are afraid,” the source said, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency currently in the spotlight for its immigration crackdown.”

The pope is operating in a context that is “hyper-polarised, where the Church is also targeted through the populations it helps, like migrants or the Hispanic community”, the source added.

With reporting by AFP