(LifeSiteNews) — A seemingly exasperated Tom Homan is pleading with U.S. bishops to meet with him to resolve their differences and discuss their opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
“I would love to sit down with them. Come sit down with me,” he told a similarly fed-up Raymond Arroyo on EWTN last week. “I think as the leaders of my faith, I deserve that. Come talk to me. And let’s work together at this.”
Tom Homan on whether the US Catholic Bishops have approached him to discuss immigration policy and enforcement: “Absolutely not… I would love to sit down with them.” See the full interview at 8pm E @EWTN @worldoverlivepic.twitter.com/Q7LYj8CY1g
— Raymond Arroyo (@RaymondArroyo) December 11, 2025
Homan, 64, is a Catholic and has served as Trump’s no-nonsense border czar since his first term in office. He made national news when he clashed with leftist Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019. During a congressional hearing that year, AOC claimed that entering the U.S. illegally was not a crime, to which Homan responded that it actually is a violation of the law and that anyone who wants to claim asylum needs to enter a designated port of entry.
Homan appeared on Arroyo’s show last Thursday to push back against, among other things, criticism the White House has been receiving since the USCCB issued its pastoral statement on immigration following its annual meeting in Baltimore.
The bishops’ message was the first of its kind to be approved in over a decade. Championed by ultra-woke El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, the statement, which claims that immigrants are facing inhumane treatment, was nearly universally criticized by conservative Catholic influencers when it was released.
“I don’t recall the bishops making any sort of video like this to condemn the Biden White House for supporting, funding, and facilitating the mass slaughter of children in the womb. I also can’t remember seeing any video with solemn condemnations of the Biden White House and its support for the castration and sexual mutilation of children,” commentator Matt Walsh exclaimed at the time.
Homan told Arroyo that the bishops have not reached out to him to engage in any sort of dialogue. He further expressed dismay over news that a parish in Boston put up a nativity sign with the words “ICE was here.” He said that sort of messaging only puts ICE agents in harms way.
Homan further doubled down on current U.S. deportation and immigration policies. While referencing news that the Trump administration has located 62,000 unaccompanied migrant children, some of whom were victims of sex trafficking and child labor, Homan said the president is simply seeking to protect the United States.
“President Trump, again, is committed to making this country safe again. And it starts with fixing all the injustices of the Biden administration, which included bringing millions of people into the country, many that weren’t properly vetted,” he said.
Thursday was not the first time Homan has publicly pushed back against U.S. Catholic bishops. On November 17, while standing outside the White House, he defended his efforts with similar points.
“A secure border saves lives. We’re going to enforce the law, and by doing that, we save a lot of lives,” he said.
He also accused the bishops of being negligent. “According to them, the message to the world is: if you cross the border illegally, which is a crime, don’t worry about it,” he remarked before adding, “I think they need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church.”
Homan is right to defend his policies. Not only is protecting a country’s common good with stringent immigration policies in accord with Catholic social teaching, but a majority of Catholic voters in the U.S. support him.
According to a poll published by EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research on December 11, 54 percent of Catholic voters back “the detention and deportation of unauthorized immigrants on a broad scale.” Only 30 percent said they oppose it, while 17 percent were unsure.
The USCCB is on the losing side of this issue. Homan and the White House are right to continue to push back as they already have been.
Recall that the bishops previously came under fire for their hostility to the Trump administration when Vice President JD Vance wondered if they so hostile due to financial reasons.
“When they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns? Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?” Vance wondered during an interview in January.
Vance defended Trump policies by noting what he called “ordo amoris” or a “rightly ordered love,” a concept rooted in Catholic teaching that maintains our first duty is to our family, then our neighbors, then our cities, state, and country before extending a helping hand to the entire world.
Vance’s comments, which clearly serve as a rebuke to open borders policies, set off a firestorm that even prompted a response from then-Pope Francis.
Pro-LGBT priest Father James Martin and other clergy also attacked Vance and the Trump administration as well.
The pushback Homan and the White House are receiving should not be surprising. Prior to being elected, Pope Leo routinely published posts on social media that indicated his support for more liberal immigration laws.
In one instance, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost reposted an article published by heterodox media outlet National Catholic Reporter titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
Prevost also shared a similar article that appeared on the left-wing America Magazine days later.
What’s more, while speaking with journalist Elise Ann Allen of Crux magazine in September, Leo said that U.S. immigration policies are a “concern” to him. In October, Leo told Bishop Seitz and several other US bishops during a meeting at the Vatican that he stands with them as they oppose Trump’s immigration policies.
Leo, Seitz, and the rest of the USCCB can complain all they want, but President Trump ran on the issue of immigration for each of his three presidential campaigns. The American people, Catholics especially, voted for him resoundingly during each race. He and Tom Homan are right to enact the will of the people to secure their borders in accordance with Catholic teaching.