JD Vance says Vatican immigration views 'troubling'

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday he disagreed with the Vatican's views on immigration, describing them ​as "troubling", following repeated comments from Pope Leo expressing disapproval of ‌President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, has called for a "deep reflection" in the U.S. about how migrants are treated under Trump, cast the ​Trump administration as being "extremely disrespectful" to immigrants and criticized ​what he called "their inhuman" treatment.

"I do think that some of ⁠the things that have come out of the Vatican on ​the immigration question in particular have been troubling, and ultimately I ​disagree with it," Vance, a Catholic, said in an interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" show.

"What I tell the Catholic leadership I talk to who disagree ​with our immigration policies, you know, I'm not hostile about it. ​I invite them to have the conversation but I also encourage them to ‌remember ⁠that mass migration has victims."

Trump has pursued a hardline immigration crackdown and deportation drive that rights groups say has violated free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who ​have expressed concerns ​about racial profiling.

Trump, ⁠who has been critical of Leo, says he aims to improve domestic security and curb illegal ​immigration.

Leo has also been critical of other policies that ​Trump ⁠has pursued.

The Vatican has declined to join Trump's so-called "Board of Peace" initiative for Gaza.

The pope has criticised the Iran war that began on February 28 ⁠when the ​U.S. and Israel launched strikes on ​Iran and recently praised an interim deal between Washington and Tehran that he hoped will ​end the conflict.

-Reuters