Pope Leo, Mamdani send pro-immigrant message for US’s 250th anniversary
Al Jazeera – News
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Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, and Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of the country’s most populous city, have sent pro-immigrant messages to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence. Leo has previously criticised the Trump administration’s immigration policies as “inhuman”. One of Trump’s top advisers, Stephen Miller, has sculpted the president’s hardline immigration stance, a defining policy of both his first and second terms. Miller has long been deeply opposed to modern immigration systems and has repeatedly argued that US immigration practices pose an existential threat to the country. During Trump’s second term, Miller has led a push to restrict nearly all forms of immigration, including legal pathways like refugee admissions, asylum applications and temporary visas, while simultaneously launching a mass deportation drive. As part of his administration’s efforts to restrict immigration, Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to end birthright citizenship, which confers citizenship to virtually all children born in the US. Just days before the 250th anniversary, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order, ruling it unconstitutional. But the high court has backed other parts of Trump’s immigration platform. On June 25, it ruled that immigration agents could physically block asylum seekers from setting foot onto US soil, to prevent them from being able to submit applications for protection in the US. After the ruling, Miller announced that “America’s doors are closed, fully, to asylum seekers”.
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Influential figures deliver speeches evoking US ideals to counter President Trump's hardline immigration policies.
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