In the letter, the pope said the criminalization of migrants and the mass deportations planned by the U.S. government are dangerous and called the country's current immigration po

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in an unusual open letter to America's Catholic bishops on Tuesday, saying criminalising migrants and taking measures built on force "will end badly".

Pope Francis issued a clarion call to U.S. Catholics Feb. 10 to reject the anti-immigrant narrative of the Trump administration.

Pope Francis on Tuesday took a direct shot at the Trump administration in a new letter in which he criticized the president's immigration policies as being un-Christian. In the letter, Pope Francis described Trump's push for mass deportations in the United States as a "major crisis" and outlined why it goes against the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The pope does not name Trump in his letter, but it is a clear directive to resist the demonization of migrants and refugees.

Pope Francis warned a program to forcefully deport people purely because of their illegal status deprives them of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”