Illinois Governor Pritzker meets with Pope Leo XIV to discuss Trump raids on ICE

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker had an audience with fellow Leo XIV Pope Illini where the two men exchanged gifts and discussed their collective criticism of President Donald Trump’s ICE enforcement mission, “Operation Midway Blitz.”

“Pope Leo

Pritzker and Leo reportedly discussed their reservations about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in Illinois and Chicago, in particular, with the governor saying the Pope agreed with his sense of pride that “the people of Chicago have stood up against the oppression that has been inflicted on immigrants.”

Pritzker said Chicago NBC affiliate that the pope has strong feelings about ICE activities, and that the pontiff wanted to hear Pritzker’s perspective and was asking about the status of the Midway Blitz.

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Pope Leo XIV greets Illinois Governor JB Pritzker at the Vatican in Vatican City. (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media/handout via REUTERS)

Leo was reportedly comforted when he was told the operation appeared to be ending in Chicago, according to Pritzker’s comments.

Earlier this month, a group of U.S. bishops issued a statement backed by Leo, criticizing some ICE operations — including mass deportations — and citing public fears about the missions.

Issued in Baltimore, the statement – ​​approved by a vote of 216 to 5, with three clergy abstentions – said in part that the bishops are “connected to our people by bonds of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ (and) are troubled when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around the issues of profiling and immigration control.”

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Leo also questioned whether people who oppose abortion but agree with the “inhumane treatment of immigrants in the United States” can be considered “pro-life.”

“If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to deal with that. There are courts; there is a justice system,” he told the Italian press at the time, adding that leaders should look for ways to treat people with dignity while still upholding the law.

But he added that each nation has its own right to determine immigration procedures and laws.

POPE LEO

“No one said the United States should have open borders,” said Leo, born Robert Prévost.

Pritzker said of his audience that “you could feel (the pope’s) humanity.”

“It was a special moment, even for this Jewish boy,” he said.

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The governor also invited Leo to visit Chicago and presented him with a case of “Da Pope” beer from local Illinois brewery Burning Bush.

“We’ll put this in the refrigerator,” the pope joked, smiling at the gift.

The last papal visit to Chicago was in 1979, when John Paul II held an audience in Grant Park, according to Capitol News Illinois.