Pope Leo XIV appoints a former undocumented immigrant as bishop of West Virginia

The Roman Catholic archdiocese bounced back from criticism on Friday after Pope Leo XIV appointed a former illegal immigrant as bishop amid a standoff between the Vatican and Washington over refugees and ICE enforcement.

Leo appointed Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which covers all of West Virginia. Menjivar-Ayala first arrived in San Ysidro, California, smuggled in the trunk of a car after making several previous attempts as a teenager to flee war-torn El Salvador.

The bishop also criticized increased immigration enforcement measures, calling them a human rights concern and responding directly to Church criticism from fellow Catholics in the Trump administration such as border chief Thomas Homan.

After commenting on social media Friday, Wheeling Diocese spokesman Tim Bishop told Fox News Digital that Menjivar-Ayala’s appointment is a blessing to the people of West Virginia, praising her ministry and ministry.

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“Bishop Evelio came [to America] in the past I wanted a better life and better opportunities – and we thank God for what he did because he will shepherd the faith of our Diocese,” said the Bishop.

“Any suggestion that the Holy Father is making this or any other appointment in any way to increase the vitriol or to suggest that it goes back to the president of the United States is absurd,” he added, while insisting he was not speaking for Leo.

The Roman Catholic Church is “concerned about the Lamb, not the Elephant or the donkey,” he said.

Meanwhile, “Letters from Leo” publisher and former DNC delegate Christopher Hale tweeted that the bishop is a “great choice” for Leo to lead “a state that is over 90% White and voted for President Trump by 42 points.”

Media outlets in the United States and France highlighted the nomination because of Leo’s reported opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.

In the 2025 forum, Menjivar-Ayala said that the criticism of the position of the Catholic Church regarding the enforcement of immigration is not a question that should be answered but by those officials to see how they live the Gospel, after being asked about Homan’s comments that the bishops at the national conference in Baltimore were “wrong” in condemning the enforcement of illegal immigration.

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“The question is theirs, for those who claim to be Catholic but do not see the face of Christ in immigrants,” said Menjivar-Ayala, according to the World Catholic Report, who also said that the newly minted man from West Virginia advises on identifying illegal immigration as murder and theft.

Menjivar-Ayala tried more than three times as a teenager to flee to the US but was caught each time, including once by Mexican authorities who imprisoned him.

Amid guerrilla wars and extreme poverty in his country in the 1980s, Menjivar-Ayala was first deported to Guatemala by Mexican authorities who arrested him in the border town of Tijuana, according to an interview with US Catholic. He then tried to cross the Guatemalan jungle on a second attempt but returned home on his own.

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Eventually, Menjivar-Ayala won a bribe to be released from a Mexican prison in Chiapas, and an elderly American smuggled him and three others through the San Ysidro border checkpoint while they were crammed into the trunk of the man’s car, according to the Washington Post.

Menjivar-Ayala told US Catholic that she found odd jobs but eventually moved to Hyattsville, Maryland, near family, where she cleaned a UPS facility.

It was there in Prince George’s County that he began working as a youth minister and was able to obtain a green card for legal residency through what he says was the religious visa policy that existed at the time.

The Washington Post described Leo’s move on Friday as another attempt to “elevate” American pastors who are at odds with the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump criticized Leo – born Robert Prevost in Illinois – and joked that he prefers “his brother. [Louis who] MAGA all the way.”

Trump said he has “nothing against” Leo and that he has the right to disagree on topics such as the legitimacy and human rights aspects of the Iran conflict and the illegal immigration issue.

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In 2025, Menjivar-Ayala criticized Trump’s immigration enforcement in a Catholic Standard column titled “This Ordeal is the Passion,” which featured a photo of a suspect being arrested by federal authorities.

“The Church remembers Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection in a spiritual and sacramental way during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum, but some people actually experience the Passion in a visible and personal way in their lives. Among them are members of the immigrant community and refugees today,” wrote Menjivar-Ayala, referring to the Passion of Christ; Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection.

“However, although redemptive suffering is a grace, it would be better if this injustice and injustice did not happen at all,” added the bishop later, asking people to speak in the way of the martyr Oscar Romero.

He went on to say that the “dark side of the anti-immigrant animus” cannot be allowed to take hold and called some of the recent behavior “a violation of basic human rights,” while also appearing to refer to the actions taken against the Catholic Church in that regard.

In that regard, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement recently canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities of Miami that had helped house unaccompanied minors, according to the Miami Herald.

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Although Trump has yet to meet Leo, America’s first pope held an audience with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Obama confidant David Axelrod.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Vatican, the White House and DHS for further comment.