Tom Homan Invites Pope Leo on ICE Ride-Along: ‘They’re Talking About Something They Don’t Understand’

Screenshot via Turning Point USA

President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has invited Pope Leo XIV on an ICE ride-along amid the religious leader’s criticism of the administration’s deportation efforts.

During a Wednesday event for Turning Point USA, Homan responded to Pope Leo calling the administration’s deportation efforts “inhuman” by inviting him for a ride-along.

“Is this your invitation to the pope for a ride-along with ICE?” Benny Johnson asked Homan.

“Yes. And I said that. I said, I will sit down and talk to him because they’re talking about something they don’t understand. Again, I’ll explain to them what happened to the Biden administration. An open border is the most inhumane thing you can do,” Homan answered.

Homan is one of numerous officials, including Trump, to bite back at the pope over his public criticism of certain U.S. policies, including immigration and the war in Iran.

Earlier this month, Homan told the pope 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 told reporters.

Homan argued on Wednesday that open borders leave the most vulnerable people to be victimized through trafficking and more.

“Every president I worked for thought border security was somewhat important. No one did more than President Trump,” he said. “His success is unprecedented. Unprecedented. And because of that, we have a most secure, safe nation.”

Over the weekend, the pope shot down the “narrative” that he has a feud with the president, following the president lashing out at him multiple times over public criticism.

“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” the pope said.

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