Pope Francis urges US Congress to treat immigrants with 'compassion'

The pope of the Roman Catholic Church has urged the US Congress to show compassion and accept those born in other countries as their own children.

In a historic address to Congress on Thursday, Pope Francis called on lawmakers to put aside political differences and embrace immigrants from Latin America and around the world.

“Our world is facing a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War,” the first pope from the Americas said, including "thousands of persons (who) are led to travel north in search of a better life.”

“We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," the 78-year-old pontiff said.

It was the first time in history a pope had addressed the US Congress.

"To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome," he added.

“In recent centuries, millions of people came to this land to pursue their dream of building a future in freedom,” Pope Francis said, speaking in English before a jam-packed House chamber.

"We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us once were foreigners," Pope Francis said, speaking in English before a jam-packed House chamber.

“I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants,” said added Francis, who was born in Argentina to Italian parents.

Nearly 10,000 immigrant families and unaccompanied children were arrested while crossing the US-Mexico border in August, according to the Border Patrol.

The agency published statistics Monday that showed an increase in the number of border crossings.

Over 35,000 children traveling on their own and more than 34,500 families, mostly mothers and children have been arrested since the start of the fiscal year in October.

Many of the migrants are fleeing violence in Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala, according to the Associated Press.

GOP’s 2016 presidential candidates have already focused part of their campaign on attempts to curb the inflow of migrants, with Donald Trump even suggesting a wall should be built on the border.

Trump's plan leaves no option except for mass deportation of the estimated 11 million people in the US illegally. "They have to go," he has said.

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