VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV has called for “deep reflection” on how migrants are treated in the United States, expressing concern that many have been “deeply affected” by President Donald Trump’s controversial policy of mass deportation.

In one of his strongest rebukes yet of the Trump administration, the first US-born pope also warned that the recent US bombing of Venezuelan ships suspected of carrying drugs could heighten tensions across the region.

Speaking to reporters outside his papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo addressed a bank of television cameras and offered to take “one or two questions.”

He said many people who had lived in the US “for years and years never causing problems” had been devastated by the government’s hardline stance on immigration.

Delivering his remarks in English to directly reach an American audience, the pontiff reminded Christians that they would ultimately be judged by how they welcomed “the foreigner.”