Overview
- Tom Homan, the White House border czar, rebuked Catholic leaders in remarks that aired Tuesday on Newsmax and told the Vatican to stay out of politics.
- He said he is a lifelong Catholic and offered to educate church officials on what he called the real harms of illegal crossings, citing cartel violence and migrant deaths.
- Homan claimed President Trump has illegal immigration down 97% and he cited large death tolls tied to border crossings and fentanyl, presenting figures that he said showed lives are being saved.
- His pushback followed a 60 Minutes segment Sunday in which three cardinals criticized a U.S.–Israel military action, and came after Cardinal Joseph Tobin earlier called ICE a lawless agency following two fatal shootings.
- The dispute has grown as conservative media amplified Homan’s remarks, Trump labeled Pope Leo XIV weak on crime and later deleted an image critics called blasphemous, and the pope vowed to keep speaking out against war.