Pope Leo calls on U.S. to protect immigrants in message marking America’s 250th birthday

Pope Leo marked the 250th anniversary of U.S. ​independence on Saturday with an appeal to Americans to welcome and protect immigrants, in a letter sent to his home country as he visited ‌Italy’s migrant frontline island of Lampedusa.

Pope Leo marked the 250th anniversary of U.S. ​independence on Saturday with an appeal to Americans to welcome and protect immigrants, in a letter sent to his home country as he visited ‌Italy’s migrant frontline island of Lampedusa.

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Leo, who drew the ire of Donald Trump last year after calling the president’s hardline anti-immigration policies “inhuman“, also urged the world to become “more human” and to help those fleeing war and poverty.

During a day trip to Lampedusa, a gateway for migrants risking dangerous Mediterranean crossings into Europe from Africa, the pope urged European leaders to do more to assist arrivals, which ​have topped 7,000 this year.