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 "As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in
this country, which was largely built by such families," the
Argentine pontiff told U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking slowly
in English after months of study.
And with those words, the first pope from Latin America became an
advocate for millions from his home region and from other places who
have chosen to immigrate to the United States, where 11 million
undocumented immigrants have created a political problem far from
being solved.
In recent months, immigration has moved up the U.S. political agenda
and several Republican presidential candidates like front-runner
Donald Trump have advocated deporting all undocumented immigrants,
building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and ending birthright
citizenship.
Later in the day, Francis thanked U.S. bishops for welcoming and
integrating immigrants and asked them to continue.
 "Now you are facing this stream of Latin immigration which affects
many of your dioceses," he said, speaking in Italian. "Not only as
the Bishop of Rome, but also as a pastor from the South, I feel the
need to thank and encourage you."
John Raphael Quinn, the archbishop emeritus of San Francisco, liked
the pope's emphasis on immigrants and believes he will bring it up
again Thursday when he addresses a joint session of the U.S.
Congress, a first for a pope.
"It's a very important thing, especially when you see 60 million
people displaced in the world today," said Quinn. "That's not a
political problem; that's a huge human problem. Everywhere, it's a
world problem."
To underscore his concern for the plight of migrants, Francis chose
to make his first trip after his election in 2013 to the tiny
southern Italian island of Lampedusa to pay tribute to the thousands
who drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean.
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This month, he asked parishes in Europe to house refugee families,
many from Syria, as Europe struggles with its migrant crisis.
Daniel Garcia, who was made an auxiliary bishop of Austin, Texas,
earlier this year, said the pope's message on immigration was "that
we need not fear the challenges that lie ahead, the political
rhetoric."
Many Hispanic families turned out to see Pope Francis travel down
Washington streets, wearing "Yo (heart) El Papa" buttons and
shouting out to "Papa Francisco." And one immigrant family from El
Salvador got a thrill when the pope spotted their five-month-old son
Loukas and asked security to bring him over for a papal kiss on the
head.
"The pope is the messenger of Christ, and for the pope to bless my
child, it's a marvelous thing," said the mother, Iris Chavez, 25.
How Loukas stood out in a crowd 15-deep is unclear, but his mother
thinks her son knew something was about to happen.
"He just started smiling as if he knew it was coming," she said.
(Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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