New York, New York - A leading Catholic cardinal has strongly condemned President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and called for defunding the "lawless" federal agency carrying it out.

"If we are serious about putting our faith in action, we need to say 'no,' each one of us," Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, a top ally of Pope Leo XIV, said in an online prayer service Sunday.

In his remarks, which were first reported Monday by the National Catholic Reporter, Tobin referenced the detentions of undocumented migrants and the fatal shootings of two demonstrators by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

"We mourn for a world, a country that allows five-year-olds to be legally kidnapped and protesters to be slaughtered," he said.

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Tobin urged Americans to contact their members of Congress and tell them to vote against renewed funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

"Will you ask them, for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can't be separated, vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization," he said.

The American-born Leo has been a vocal critic of Trump's immigration policies since being elected pontiff in May, calling the treatment of migrants "extremely disrespectful."