Thursday’s Morning Joe aired a piece of video reporting by MS NOW’s Britt Miller on the recent statements made by Pope Leo XIV and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops concerning the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. The co-hosts were quick to emphasize the Catholic authorities’ disapproval of the treatment of illegal aliens while conveniently ignoring the Church’s acknowledgement of the need for border security. After watching a selectively edited clip of Leo’s Tuesday comments and Miller’s piece, co-host Joe Scarborough attacked the Trump administration as contrary to Jesus: I mean, the administration official said the Pope is wrong. You[‘re] kind of going against not only the Pope, you're going against Jesus's teachings throughout the entire New Testament. All I can say is good luck with that, taking it up with Jesus and taking it up with the Pope. And all of the archbishops and so many priests. The New Testament, the Gospel is so painfully clear that the Pope feels free to say, “Please don't call yourself pro-life if you're against abortion, but you support the inhumane treatment of these souls.” This was in reference to the controversial comment made by Leo on September 30th, in which he questioned how one could consider themselves to be “pro-life” while simultaneously in favor of how immigrants in the U.S. have been treated and the death penalty. This is the full comment made by Leo on Tuesday, which MS NOW cut off right before he denied calling for open borders (Click “expand”): Well, I've made some statements about that already. I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it's a very important statement. I would invite, especially all Catholics, but people of goodwill to listen carefully to what they said. I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there's a system of justice. I think there are a lot of problems in the system. No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter. But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful to say the least, and there's been some violence unfortunately. I think that the bishops have been um very clear in what they said and I think that — I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them. Thank you. MS NOW also featured a clip from November 4th, in which the Pope “invited” authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the “spiritual rights” of detained persons.     Co-host Willie Geist swiped at President Trump’s Border Czar: “… if you're Tom Homan, what specifically is the Pope wrong about here? When you say the Catholic church is wrong […] what is he wrong about? I think he just doesn't like that he's getting some blowback ...” For context, this is exactly what Homan said when asked about the Catholic Bishops’ statement on November 14th (Click “expand”): So the message — so, according to them, the message we should send to the whole world is that, “If you cross the border illegally, which is a crime, don’t worry about it. If you get ordered removed by a federal judge after due process, don’t worry about it, cause there shouldn’t be mass deportations.” If that’s the message we send to the whole world, people are still putting themselves in harm’s way to come to the greatest nation on earth. They’re gonna spend their life savings and give it to a criminal cartel. And we saw during the Biden administration, when there was no immigration enforcement, over 4,000 aliens died making that journey, historic record. Quarter million Americans died from fentanyl, historic record. Secure borders saves lives. I wish the Catholic Church would understand that. We have the right to secure our borders like they have the right to secure their facility. You can’t enter their facility without getting arrested. Matter of fact, their — the penalties for entering their facilities are much worse than ours. So, you know, we’re gonna enforce the law. And by doing that we’re saving a lot of lives. Secure borders saves lives. And no one — one of the reasons no one talks about why we had the most secure border in the history of this nation is because exactly what ICE is doing. ICE just sent a message to the whole world, “Don’t give your life savings to come to country, cause you’re not gonna be released. You’re not gonna cross the border illegally, you’re gonna be prosecuted.” So, the Catholic Church’s wrong. I’m sorry, I’m a lifelong Catholic. I’m saying it as not only the Border Czar, I’ll say it as a Catholic. I think they need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church, in my opinion. So Homan based his disagreement on the fact that the open border endangered not only U.S. citizens, but also those who crossed the border illegally, as well as the apparent hypocrisy in terms of prosecuting trespassing. The main point of the USCCB’s “Special Message,” which MS NOW highlighted, was as follows: We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. However, also included in the statement (and not mentioned by anyone on Morning Joe) was a recognition of a national sovereignty’s duty to immigration regulation: We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good. Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks. Scarborough again invoked the teachings of Jesus and aligned Pope Leo with them: “Well, and it is unambiguous, the words of Jesus, the red letters. It's just unambiguous. And so the Pope is standing on solid spiritual ground.” Co-host Jonathan Lemire ended the conversation by mentioning Leo’s predecessor: “Pope Francis […] spoke out about, sort of, Trump's immigration policies in the first term, particularly the kids in the cages and the like.” If you’ll remember, the “kids in cages” controversy was actually due to Obama-era immigration policies. Lemire returned to the sitting Pope and acclaimed his influence, “But there's something unique about an American Pope, Pope Leo, who's quieter than Francis, but very effective in what he's saying, the messages are being heard.” MS NOW misrepresented the Catholic Church’s stance on illegal immigration enforcement. While Catholic authorities have clearly disapproved of how ICE and the Border Patrol have conducted physically-violent raids (which the leftist media has no doubt exaggerated), they have also acknowledged the need for border security. Scarborough, who has loved touting his Baptist upbringing, would do well to be more honest in his namesake’s coverage. The transcript is below. Click "expand" read: MS NOW’s Morning Joe November 20, 2025 6:53:55 a.m. EST (…) MIKA BRZEZINSKI: You can see from Britt’s reporting there, the Pope is leaning in on this. JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well, he's engaged. But also, Willie, the archbishops are engaged, priests are engaged. I mean, the administration official said the Pope is wrong. You kind of going against not only the Pope, you're going against Jesus's teachings throughout the entire New Testament. All I can say is good luck with that, taking it up with Jesus and taking it up with the Pope. And all of the archbishops and so many priests. The New Testament, the Gospel is so painfully clear that the Pope feels free to say, “Please don't call yourself pro-life if you're against abortion, but you support the inhumane treatment of these souls.” WILLIE GEIST: Yeah, and what — if you're Tom Homan, what specifically is the Pope wrong about here? When you say the Catholic Church is wrong, what do you — what is he wrong about? I think he just doesn't like that he's getting some blowback and it's beyond blowback. It's a united front. And I think for a lot of Catholics who've struggled over the last couple of decades with scandal and all that, this is a very proud moment — BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. GEIST: — because they are — they don't believe this is political. This is Jesus’ teaching. This is from the Bible. SCARBOROUGH: Right. GEIST: And the fact that the Pope is showing leadership, this American pope who obviously understands immigration in this country, the fact that he's taking the lead, it's a very significant moment. SCARBOROUGH: Well, and it is unambiguous, the words of Jesus, the red letters. It's just unambiguous. And so the Pope is standing on solid spiritual ground. And the question is, how is this going to impact Catholics? And I think we've seen some Protestant churches also starting to go, “Well, we may have voted for the President, but we can't just throw out everything Jesus said about protecting those in need, and welcoming the foreigner and, you know, the Good Samaritan story.” Mike Barnicle told us about being in mass last week and letter from the Pope being read from the pulpit and the priest — after the priest ended, the audience, the giving a standing ovation. BRZEZINSKI: Wow. JONATHAN LEMIRE: Yeah. Pope Francis — BRZEZINSKI: It’s moving. LEMIRE: — spoke out about, sort of, Trump's immigration policies in the first term, particularly the kids in the cages and the like. But there's something unique about an American Pope, Pope Leo, who's quieter than Francis, but very effective in what he's saying, the messages are being heard. And we're seeing it in pulpits, but also in polling. BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. LEMIRE: Americans don’t like how this administration is handling immigrants and deportations. (…)