United States (US) President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan delivered a message to Pope Francis by saying that the sovereign of the Vatican City State should focus on fixing the Catholic Church.

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In an interview with American news network Newsmax, Homan on Friday (January 24) reacted to the remarks that Pope Francis made this week. Francis had called the mass deportations being carried out by the Trump administration a "disgrace."

Also read | US President Trump deploys 1,500 extra troops on border with Mexico

"If this is true, it is a disgrace, because it makes the poor unfortunate who have nothing pay the price of imbalance. This is not how things are solved," Pope said during an interview earlier this week.

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Homan counters Pope

Speaking to Newsmax, Homan said on Friday, "Well, let me give a message to the pope: I'm a lifelong Catholic. I was born Catholic. I've been through Catholic doctrine."

"Look, you only concentrate on fixing the Catholic Church, first of all. He's (Trump) got big problems there," he added.

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Also read | As Trump cracks down on immigrants, some families wonder whether to send kids to school

Trump's border czar also highlighted that there is a wall in the Vatican and that entering the European country illegally is a serious crime. 

"So he can protect the Vatican where he lives; he can build a wall where he lives, where American people are not allowed that? No," Homan further told the network.

A show of force on illegal immigration

Less than a week after becoming the American president, Donald Trump touted deportation efforts and published new rules Friday making it easier to remove people.

Amid officials’ latest show of force, waves of worry reverberated in parts of the US, with officials in Newark, New Jersey, lashing out over what they called illegal arrests by immigration agents, a report by the news agency Associated Press early Saturday said.

Also watch | Trump designates drug cartels as major national security threat

The administration announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 593 arrests on Friday and 538 on Thursday. 

Trump also sent military personnel to the US-Mexico border and lifted longtime rules restricting immigration enforcement near schools and churches.

(With inputs from agencies)