On Easter morning, the day before he died, Pope Francis met Vice President JD Vance, a devout defender of President Trump’s virulent anti-immigration policies. Francis and Vance exchanged brief pleasantries, but a few minutes later, an archbishop read the pontiff’s holiday homily, which decried “how much contempt is stirred up at times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants.”

It was the last of many occasions when the pope played his role as moral messenger, embracing the marginalized around the globe, especially migrants driven from their homes by conflict, poverty and disaster. He did not criticize Trump or Vance by name, but he has often branded the president’s crusade against foreigners a “disgrace” and “not Christian.”

In February, for instance, the pope issued an unusual open letter to America’s Catholic bishops denouncing mass deportations. “I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church … not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,” he wrote.

The fight over foreigners is playing out on many fronts. The president is only the latest in a long line of American demagogues who have demonized alien “others” for political gain, and he’s convinced that despite Francis’ moral opposition, he’s winning the battle for public opinion.

During the campaign, he called immigration the No. 1 issue that would win him the election and added, “That beats out the economy. That beats it all out to me; it’s not even close.” Indeed, he won 59% of the Catholic vote, a jump of 12 points over 2020, when he lost narrowly to the second Catholic president, Joe Biden.

Today, an AP-NORC poll reports that 49% approve of how Trump is handling the immigration issue — his highest rating on any issue tested, and 11 points higher than his favorable score on trade matters.

A recent report by a coalition of religious groups says that 3 out of 5 undocumented immigrants who could be subject to deportation by Trump are Catholics, many from Latin and South America. But Catholic voters remain ambivalent on this issue, especially those whose families came here several generations ago from countries like Ireland, Italy and Poland, many of whom lack sympathy for the newcomers.

Anthea Butler, a professor of religion at the University of Pennsylvania, analyzed this split for the Religious News Service and NPR: “On one hand, you have a big, giant denomination who is going to be profoundly affected by people being renditioned — and I’m going to use the word renditioned — out of this country who are faithful and loyal Catholics. But on the other hand, you have Catholic suburbanites and others who voted for Trump who are like, ‘OK, this is cool.’”

But if Trump is winning the political contest over immigration, he is starting to lose some legal skirmishes.

The administration has been using an 18th-century statute, the Alien Enemies Act, to justify the expulsion of hundreds of Venezuelans accused of belonging to violent gangs. In an unusual predawn order, the Supreme Court temporarily barred the White House from further deportations under that law.

And while the court did not reach the underlying legal issues in the case, it was noteworthy that only two of the six conservative justices — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — dissented from the order.

Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck told the Washington Post that the court’s ruling was “a sign that a majority of the justices have lost their patience with the procedural games being played by the Trump administration,” at least as it relates to the cases involving the Alien Enemies Act.

As Trump continues to defy court orders and constitutional principles, the voices of alarm are growing louder. As Pope Francis has warned, this crucial question has moral as well as practical consequences. “The vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants” might be political pawns to Donald Trump, but they are all children of God to the Holy Father.

Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. He can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.