Pope Rejects Trump’s “Board of Peace” Invite

The Vatican will not be joining Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” announcing Tuesday that it was turning down a January invitation from the White House.

“For us, there are … some critical issues that should be resolved,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. “One concern is that, at the international level, it should above all be the U.N. that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”

Pope Leo XIV has not been afraid to criticize Trump since being named pontiff last year. He told reporters in September that “someone who says ‘I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

He expanded upon those views in November, saying, “I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice.

“But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least—and there’s been some violence, unfortunately—I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they said,” Leo added. “I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them.”

Leo has also spoken highly of the role of the U.N., which would go against Trump’s vision for the Board of Peace.

“In a world facing complex challenges such as geopolitical tensions, inequalities, and climate crises, the U.N. should play a key role in fostering dialogue and human support, helping to build a more just future,” Leo said in his State of the World address last month. “Efforts are therefore needed to ensure that the United Nations not only reflects the situation of today’s world, rather than that of the post-war period, but that it is also more focused and efficient in pursuing policies aimed at the unity of the human family instead of ideologies.”

The Board of Peace was established to oversee a transitional government in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israel in a three-year onslaught. But the organization appears to be a way to circumvent the United Nations and possibly line Trump’s pockets, as permanent membership on the board requires a $1 billion fee. Trump has refused to say where that money goes.

So far, 19 countries have signed up, including those with leaders close to Trump, such as Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, and the United Arab Emirates. Israel and Russia, each accused of war crimes, have both been invited, although only Israel has agreed to join. The Vatican and the pope’s rejection will hurt the board’s credibility, but that isn’t likely to change Trump’s mind.

Guards at an ICE detention facility in Texas raided the dorms of immigrant families Tuesday, in order to destroy children’s letters that threatened to shed light on the horrific living conditions.

The raid at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley was in response to a recent ProPublica report that featured letters written by the children held there, according to Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manriquez. 

Univision’s Lidia Terrazas shared a video on Instagram of 15-year-old Cariexis Quintero, who has the intellectual capacity of a 7-year old, discussing the raid. 

“They threw away all of my drawings,” she said tearfully. “My mom liked them.”

“They noticed we were writing letters asking for freedom,” Quintero’s mother said as she held up a pile of colorful scraps. She described how guards had “stormed” into her room searching for drawings and letters, and had torn what they found to shreds.

Thus far, no federal court complaint, legal document, or verified video recording of the raid at Dilley has been made public, according to the International Business Times.  

This week, ICE deported 2-month-old Juan Nicolás with his mother and father to Mexico, after the baby had been hospitalized for bronchitis during his time at the detention facility in Dilley. Earlier this month, the facility was also the site of a measles outbreak. 

In the original ProPublica report, children recounted their fear and anguish, as well as the facility’s poor food, unsanitary conditions, and lack of reliable medicine.

“More than 60 days … going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems the water is what makes people sick here,” wrote Ender, a 12-year-old detained at Dilley, in one of the letters. 

Even Fox News hosts are making a point to correct Vice President JD Vance these days.

In an interview with Vance on Tuesday, Martha MacCallum cited a Fox poll of 1,005 voters showing Democrats leading in generic congressional vote preference, 52–46.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but obviously that number would not be good,” MacCallum said.

“That would not be good,” Vance replied. “I will say, as much as we love Fox News, we always think Fox News has the worst polling. Me and the president agree on that.”

“I could show you other ones that are very similar,” MacCallum said.

MacCallum is right that the vast majority of polls indicate the GOP’s popularity is down across the country. A Cygnal Political congressional poll conducted in early February reports a 3 percent lead for Democrats over Republicans. Silver Bulletin’s congressional polling average, which aggregates thousands of similar polls, has Democrats leading by 5.4 percent.

That Vance and Trump believe Fox News “has the worst polling” is interesting, given the network is famous for its conservative slant. However, Fox’s polling operates independently of its programming, and is considered quite reliable by major outlets. The anger toward Fox perhaps stems from the disconnect between its laudatory programming and the poor popularity numbers suggested by its polls.

Thirty-nine-year-old MAGA Representative Lauren Boebert’s 20-year-old son has been arrested after her 2-year old grandson was found wandering around alone near her Colorado home on Sunday, which lies close to a lake. Boebert’s son, who was supposed to be watching the child, is facing misdemeanor charges of child abuse without injury for the second time. 

“A kind woman quickly and safely secured him, and authorities were called as a precaution,” Boebert said, telling 9News she was “very frustrated this happened.”

Boebert’s son, Tyler, is already awaiting trial on the same charge over another event  last year, which Boebert then described as “a one-time incident.” It was not. 

Boebert’s grandson was born when Tyler, then 17, impregnated a female minor who Boebert only described as “over the age of 14.” Two years ago, Boebert went on conservative talk show The Rubin Report and bragged about how “responsible” her son and the child’s mother were. With two child abuse charges—not to mention his 24-month probation after pleading guilty to his role in an identity theft ring in 2024 and a lawsuit for an alleged nonconsensual sex tape—that couldn’t be further from the truth for Tyler. 

ICE has deported 2-month-old Juan Nicolás with his mother and father to Mexico, despite the baby suffering from bronchitis while in ICE detention.

Nicolás’s mother spoke to Univision’s Lidia Terrezas by phone Tuesday, saying that they were left at the Mexican border with no phone and only the money they had in their commissary at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, an ICE facility where they were previously detained.

Terrezas said in an Instagram post that Nicolás is still sick and that his mother was only able to contact her because someone in the street let her use their phone.

“She is in distress, she’s panicking. They were sent to the same place they fled from,” Terrezas said.

In a follow-up post, Terrezas said that the family was able to pay for a hotel with their commissary money, adding that a GoFundMe is in the works to assist them. Texas Representative Joaquin Castro, who has been advocating for Nicolás and his family, said that he spoke with the family’s attorney and that they had just $190, in a post on X.

“To unnecessarily deport a sick baby and his entire family is heinous. My staff and I are in contact with Juan’s family. We are laser-focused on tracking them down, holding ICE accountable for this monstrous action, demanding specific details on their whereabouts and wellbeing, and ensuring their safety,” Castro said.

Nicolás had been vomiting and experiencing breathing issues while detained in an ICE facility known for unsanitary conditions, which also had a measles outbreak earlier this month. While the baby was sent to a hospital late Monday night, he was guarded by armed federal agents and released after only one day. His mother had to appear before an immigration judge the same day, where she was told they would be deported. Now Nicolás and his family have to fend for themselves.