‘By sunset tomorrow (today), the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt’, vows Trump
One day before the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. President, Pope Francis criticised his plans for an immigration crackdown when he returns to the White House on Monday.
In an interview with Italian programme Che Tempo Che Fa on Nove aired on Sunday, the Pope, who said he had not spoken to Trump since his first term in office, said the U.S president-elect’s plan of mass deportation of undocumented migrants “will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor and unfortunates pay the price of societal imbalance.”
“This won’t do,” the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church told Italian presenter Fabio Fazio.
“This is not how you solve things,” he added.
The relationship between Pope Francis and Trump is considered tense.
Before the presidential election in November, the pope was critical of Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.
“They are both against life, both the one who gets rid of migrants and the one who kills babies,” referring to Harris’s support for a woman’s right to choose an abortion.
On Monday -today, January 20 – Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in Washington.
According to U.S. reports, he is set to sign a range of executive orders from day one, with a special focus on anti-migration measures.
Trump says ‘invasion of our borders’ will end before Monday is over
Meanwhile, on the eve of his swearing-in Trump told supporters that he would implement anti-immigration measures from day one of his second term in office.
“By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt.
“All the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home,” the Republican said at a rally in Washington.
As during his election campaign, Trump used broad generalisations and portrayed undocumented migrants living in the U.S. as criminals.
While there has been a rise in crime in some areas of the U.S., experts attribute this to complex socio-political causes.
There is no evidence of a migrants-driven crime wave, nor of migrants committing crimes at higher rates than U.S. nationals.
One of Trump’s key election promises was to carry out mass deportations.
To implement this plan, Trump has nominated several right-wing hardliners to join his government.
According to U.S. media, the first raids are set to begin shortly after his swearing-in on Monday.
These are initially planned in Chicago and may also extend to other cities.
The action is scheduled to last for a week.(dpa/NAN)
Follow us on all social media platforms @dailyquery for news around the globe.
