Voters in 13 states and one territory will prepare to cast their votes Super Tuesday.
I agree with Pope Francis who said recently those who would build walls are not acting as Christians.
Any candidate who has to think twice before disavowing the Ku Klux Klan is not a Christian.
Any candidate who would ban Muslims from entering the U.S. is not a Christian.
Name calling is not Christian, whether it's calling women bimbos or saying Mexicans are rapists or criminals.
The pope reportedly told journalists on the plane back from Mexico to Rome, "A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel."
Pope Francis did not actually say Donald Trump is not a Christian, or specifically name him. He also may have used the word Christian as an adjective instead of a noun. That could be lost in translation from Spanish to English.
But I'm not afraid to say that Trump is not acting as a Christian.
It is not Christian to shut the door in the face of those in need. In Mexico, the pope prayed for us to have "open hearts" in the face of a the "humanitarian crisis" of mass migration around the world.
His words coincide with Bible teachings, including to love your neighbor as yourself.
And what would have happened to Baby Jesus had Mary and Joseph not found refuge?
What if we turned them away as Trump and some other candidates wish to turn away refugees and immigrants?
Beyond the moral consideration, the pontiff's words invite us to consider how we view the undocumented. They are not criminals and rapists, words that Trump has used to describe Mexicans.
Not all of the estimated 11 million undocumented in the U.S. are Mexican. Only half are Mexican, and the rest include immigrants from places like the Philippines, Poland or Ireland.
Yet we don't see politicians like Trump demonize them.
And net migration from Mexico is down with more leaving the U.S than arriving.
It's time that we stop blaming migrants for fleeing war, poverty and violence.
The pope used the verb forced, as in why migrants or refugees, from anywhere in the world leave their country.
Conditions force them to leave. It's not a decision any person would make lightly, to leave your home, most of your belongings and family behind.
It was a powerful moment to witness Pope Francis walk on a platform adorned with a giant cross at the U.S.-Mexico border. He offered flowers and prayers for the migrants who make the often dangerous and sometimes deadly journey to the United States.
I was there for this historic moment and it made me reflect on whether the pope was making a political statement or a religious one by holding mass just feet from the Rio Grande that divides Mexico and the U.S.
The pope criticized the conditions that force immigrants to leave their country, such as violence, war and poverty.
And he lamented how migrants can be then exploited by traffickers and the greedy.
The pope invites us to look at migrants and refugees with compassion, based in Christianity or humanity, and not blame them for the conditions that force them to leave their homes.
The pope doesn't judge others for their nationality, religion or gender.
This is the message that is completely lost on Trump and those who support him.
Teresa Puente is an associate professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago and a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. She also writes the Chicanisima blog.