via AP:

Archbishop John C. Wester, the leader of New Mexico’s largest diocese said Wednesday he believes comments about immigration attributed to President Donald Trump “reflect bigotry” and that immigrants from poor countries made the U.S. great….

Last week, while meeting with lawmakers about a potential deal on immigration, Trump questioned why the U.S. should allow more people from Africa or Haiti.

Several people who attended the meeting said Trump disparaged those countries in vulgar, racially tinged terms. He also said he would prefer more immigrants come from countries such as Norway.

“Those kind of quotes reflect bigotry, and bigotry is just wrong, period,” Wester said. “We’re great because of the people who came from developing countries in past years, countries that were less fortunate, countries that may not have been able to do much for us.”

At the Washington Post, Michael Gerson writes:

Sometimes it is necessary to begin with the obvious. The claim that America needs more Norwegian immigrants and fewer Africans from “shithole countries” is racist. It is not the same as arguing for a higher-skilled immigrant pool. That argument might go something like: “We need a higher-skilled immigrant pool.”…

On this issue, Trump has not earned a single benefit of the doubt. His racial demagoguery in the Central Park Five case . . . his attribution of Kenyan citizenship to Barack Obama . . . his references to Mexican migrants as rapists and murderers . . . his unconstitutional attempt at a Muslim ban . . . his moral equivocation following the deadly protests in Charlottesville . . . his statement, reported by the New York Times, that Nigerians would never “go back to their huts” after seeing America . . . all of these constitute an elaborate pattern of bigotry. Trump makes offhand racist comments, he promotes racist stereotypes and he incites racism as a political strategy.