OAN Staff Lillian Mann
2:00 PM – Thursday, April 23, 2026
President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has invited Pope Leo XIV on an ICE ride-along amid the religious leader’s recent critique of the administration’s deportation efforts.
During an event for Turning Point USA on Wednesday, Homan invited him on the ride along after Pope Leo referred to the administration’s deportation efforts as “inhumane.”
Homan took an unexpected approach to the recent rift between Trump and the pope, saying he “will sit down and talk to him because they’re talking about something they don’t understand.”
The border czar also argued that open borders can leave the most vulnerable people exposed to trafficking.
“Again, I’ll explain to them what happened to the Biden administration. An open border is the most inhumane thing you can do,” Homan continued.
The border czar went on to criticize former President Joe Biden and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over their handling of border security between 2021 and 2025. He alleged that the previous administration used taxpayer funds to provide undocumented immigrants with transportation, housing, and work authorization.
“When you make that promise to the whole world, the most vulnerable people will give their life savings to the cartels to make that dangerous journey,” said Homan.
Homan is one of several officials — including President Trump — who have pushed back against the pope’s criticisms of certain U.S. policies, including immigration and the conflict with Iran.
While speaking outside the White House earlier this month Homan told reporters that the pope needs to “stay out of immigration.”
“I’m speaking for myself, a lifelong Catholic. I wish they’d stay out of immigration. They don’t know what they’re talking about. Because if they wore my shoes for 40 years and talked to a nine-year-old girl that got raped multiple times, or stood in the back of a tractor trailer with 19 dead aliens at my feet, including a five-year-old boy that baked to death,” Homan stressed.
“Every president I worked for thought border security was somewhat important. No one did more than President Trump,” Homan stated. “His success is unprecedented. Unprecedented. And because of that, we have a most secure, safe nation.”
Despite this, Pope Leo has denied claims of a rift with Trump after the president responded to the pope’s public criticism with rebuttals, and has emphasized that the feud has been overblown.
“Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said,” Pope Leo stated. “It was looked at as if I was trying to debate, again, the president, which is not my interest at all.”
While Pope Leo has noted that “every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” he has also referred to the administration’s interior immigration actions as “extremely disrespectful to say the least.”
In response, Trump has described the pope as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
Vice President JD Vance has also commented on the issue, saying that “in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of mortality.”
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