Defending migrants was a priority for Pope Francis from the earliest days of his papacy

Advocating for migrants was one of Pope Francis' top priorities. His papacy saw a refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, skyrocketing numbers of migrants in the Americas, and declining public empathy that led to increasingly restrictive policies around the world.

Francis repeatedly took up the plight of migrants — from bringing asylum-seekers to the Vatican with him from overcrowded island camps to denouncing border initiatives of U.S. President Donald Trump. On the day before his death, Francis briefly met with Vice President JD Vance, with whom he had tangled long-distance over deportation plans.

Some memorable moments when Francis spoke out to defend migrants:

For his first pastoral visit outside Rome following his election, Francis traveled to the Italian island of Lampedusa — a speck in the Mediterranean whose proximity to North Africa put it on the front line of many smuggling routes and deadly shipwrecks.

Meeting migrants who had been in Libya, he decried their suffering and denounced the “globalization of indifference” that met those who risked their lives trying to reach Europe.

A decade later, in a September 2023 visit to the multicultural French port of Marseille, Francis again blasted the “fanaticism of indifference” toward migrants as European policymakers doubled down on borders amid the rise of the anti-immigration far-right.

Francis traveled to the Greek island of Lesbos at the height of a refugee crisis in which hundreds of thousands of people arrived after fleeing civil war in Syria and other conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia.

He brought three Muslim families to Italy on the papal plane. Rescuing those 12 Syrians from an overwhelmed island camp was “a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same,” Francis said.

During his hospitalization in early 2025, one of those families that settled in Rome said Francis didn't just change their lives.

“He wanted to begin a global dialogue to let world leaders know that even an undocumented migrant is not something to fear,” said Hasan Zaheda.

His wife, Nour Essa, added: “He fought to broadcast migrant voices, to explain that migrants in the end are just human beings who have suffered in wars.”

The news of Francis' death shocked the family and they mourned “with the whole of humanity,” Zaheda said.

In December 2021, Francis again had a dozen asylum-seekers brought to Italy, this time following his visit to Cyprus.

Celebrating a Mass near the U.S. border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that was beamed live to neighboring El Paso, Texas, Francis prayed for “open hearts” when faced with the “human tragedy that is forced migration.”

Answering a reporter’s question while flying back to Rome, Francis said a person who advocates building walls is “not Christian.” Trump, at the time a presidential candidate, was campaigning to do just that, and responded that it was “disgraceful” to question a person’s faith. He criticized the pope for not understanding “the danger of the open border that we have with Mexico.”

As pressures surged in Italy and elsewhere in Europe to crack down on illegal migration, Francis made an impassioned plea to end the practice of returning those people rescued at sea to Libya and other unsafe countries where they suffer “inhumane violence.”

He called detention facilities in Libya “true concentration camps.” From there, thousands of migrants are taken by traffickers on often unseaworthy vessels. The Mediterranean Sea has become the world’s largest migrant grave with more than 30,000 deaths since 2014, when the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project began counting.

After Trump returned to the White House in part by riding a wave of public anger at illegal immigration, Francis assailed U.S. plans for mass deportations, calling them “a disgrace.”

With Trump making a flurry of policy changes cracking down on immigration practices, Francis wrote to U.S. bishops and warned that deportations “will end badly.”

“The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women,” he wrote.

U.S. border czar Tom Homan immediately pushed back, noting the Vatican is a city-state surrounded by walls and that Francis should leave border enforcement to his office.

When Vance visited over Easter weekend, he first met with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Afterward, the Holy See reaffirmed cordial relations and common interests, but noted “an exchange of opinions” over current international conflicts, migrants and prisoners.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

FILE - A cross stands on the Mexican side of the border with the United States hours before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, Jan. 19, 2025, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

FILE— A Border Patrol van transports a group of migrants, Jan. 21, 2025, after they crossed illegally between two border walls separating Mexico and the United States in San Diego, Texas. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE— Balloons representing the hopes and struggle of immigrant communities are released during an event organized by the Border Network for Human Rights organization along the border fence on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Pierre Aguirre, File)

FILE - Migrants reach through a border wall for clothing handed out by volunteers as they wait for asylum, May 12, 2023, in San Diego, Texas. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - People peer through the border wall as U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego prepare for the arrival of hundreds of pro-migration protesters, in Tijuana, Mexico, Dec. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

FILE - Young men peer through the border wall as U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego prepare for the arrival of hundreds of pro-migration protesters, in Tijuana, Mexico, Dec. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

FILE— Hundreds of people gather on the U.S. side of the border to watch as Pope Francis prays at the U.S.-Mexico border fence along the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Syrian refugees Wafa, no last name available, and her husband, Osama, hold their children's hands as they arrive with another Syrian family at the St. Egidio Community in Rome, April 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Pope Francis poses for a selfie photo with a migrant during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Sept. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

FILE - Pope Francis waves to a cheering crowd during his visit to the island of Lampedusa, Sicily, in southern Italy, July 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Pope Francis poses for selfie photos with migrants at a regional migrant center in Bologna, Italy, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

FILE-- Pope Francis, left, speaks to migrants, wearing white caps, during his visit to the island of Lampedusa, Sicily, in southern Italy, July 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Pool, File)

FILE— A model boat hangs from the ceiling of the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica as Pope Francis delivers a speech in Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

FILE - Pope Francis, center, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, left, and Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos II, toss floral wreaths into the sea on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

FILE - Migrants and refugees walk behind a cross in a camp set up by volunteers near the port of Mytilini, on the Greek island of Lesbos, April 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

FILE - Refugees and migrants are rescued by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Sergi Camara, File)

FILE— Pope Francis attends a ceremony at the Karatepe refugee camp on the Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Dec. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Migrants and refugees wait for assistance on an overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, Feb. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Bruno Thevenin, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)