Trump Travel Ban: Pope Francis Warns Against ‘Populist Rhetoric,’ Says Migrants Should Be Welcomed And Protected

President Donald Trump’s new immigration executive order is set to be signed this week, but whatever form his revised travel ban takes it is unlikely to meet the approval of Pope Francis. Speaking Tuesday at the International Forum on Migration and Peace, the head of the Catholic Church said that migrants should be welcomed and protected and cautioned against fear and “populist rhetoric.”

Trump’s original executive order, signed last month and later halted in federal court, banned travel to the United States for individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries, while also halting all refugee arrivals for 120 days and suspending the arrival of Syrian refugees indefinitely. It also capped the total number of refugee arrivals in 2017 at 50,000, less than half what the figure had been under the previous administration of President Barack Obama.

In response, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees said it placed 20,000 people who were expecting resettlement in the U.S. in “precarious circumstances.”

While not specifically mentioning Trump or his policies, Pope Francis stressed that rejection of migrants is not the solution and instead an integrated response including the political community, civil society and the Church should be sought.

“Our shared response may be articulated by four verbs: to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate,” he said at the forum in Rome, according to Vatican Radio.

“Faced with this kind of rejection, rooted ultimately in self-centeredness and amplified by populist rhetoric, what is needed is a change of attitude, to overcome indifference and to counter fears with a generous approach of welcoming those who knock at our doors.”

He concluded by restating a message he first uttered in 2013, making clear the need to counter a response of fear.

“A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world.”

The views of Francis and Trump on immigration have come into direct conflict in the past. Earlier this month, the Pontiff restated his opposition to Trump’s plan to build a wall along the border with Mexico.

“In the social and civil context as well, I appeal not to create walls, but to build bridges,” he said. The Pope added, in an apparent reference to Trump’s insistence that Mexico would pay for the wall that “a Christian would never say ‘you will pay for that.’ Never. This is not a Christian gesture.”