Amid the pomp and circumstance surrounding the inauguration — and the immediate executive orders making good on President Donald Trump’s campaign promises — the new president and vice president visited the Washington National Cathedral for the National Prayer Service, a tradition dating back to 1933. Unable to resist the lure of the bully pulpit, Episcopal bishop Mariann Budde used her sermon to make a final plea for the ideals of Kamala Harris’s failed campaign. After reflecting on the importance of unity, Budde appealed directly to President Trump, asking him to “have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now” — specifically, “gay, lesbian, and transgender children … who fear for their lives” and illegal immigrants.  Her remarks were met with slow blinks and a long-suffering sigh from Trump and poorly concealed skepticism from Vance. Second Lady Usha Vance was unfazed, remaining politely attentive throughout — though, as the mother of three young children, she has plenty of practice keeping a straight face amid infantile behavior.  Frustrating as the schoolmarm lecture was for onlookers, however, the optics worked in the president’s favor. After all, Trump remains undefeated in presidential races against liberal women, and Americans have shown that they are tired of being lectured by progressives certain of their own moral superiority. After four years of insanity, Trump was elected to bring about, in his own words, a “revolution of common sense.”  In her appeal for “mercy” towards illegal immigration, Budde recited a litany of jobs done by immigrants: The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat at restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.  Actually, every illegal immigrant is a criminal, for the simple and obvious reason that they are present in the United States in violation of the nation’s laws governing entry and residence. The more revealing part of Budde’s plea, however, is what she says before claiming that illegal immigrants are law-abiding citizens. In listing the various jobs performed by immigrants, Budde paints a picture of harmonious interdependence — see, she argues, immigrants play a necessary role in our communities. But her list belies a much darker reality: the influx of illegal, undocumented immigrants to American communities has created an economic underclass to prop up the luxuries of modern life. After all, the appeal for sympathy for illegal immigrants is often, at heart, an economic argument. Yet, faced with the tragic and preventable murder of college student Laken Riley and a cultural reliance on illegal immigrants for construction projects and UberEats moped deliveries, no sane person would justify the former with the latter.  After the prayer service, Trump responded to the “so-called” bishop’s sermon:  She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. In 2016 with Hillary Clinton’s presidential run and again in 2024 with Kamala Harris’s candidacy, Democrats have sided time and again with progressive women who weaponize empathy and emotion. There’s a tendency among progressive Christians to emphasize God’s mercy at the expense of his justice, though they are actually one and the same — his mercy is just, and his justice is merciful. And, as Trump brings his immigration agenda to fruition in this new administration, Christians need to remain mindful that elected leaders are bound to act justly first and foremost to American citizens.  Mary Frances (Myler) Devlin is a contributing editor at The American Spectator. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2022. Follow her on X/Twitter @maryfrandevlin.  READ MORE by Mary Frances Devlin:  Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton: Porn Doesn’t Have to Be ‘Inevitable’ Pope Francis Gets His Man in Washington  ‘Shield Laws’ Protect Abortionists Who Send Chemical Abortion Pills Across State Lines The post Leftist Bishop Budde Uses Bully Pulpit to Beg Trump to ‘Have Mercy’ on Illegal Immigrants appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.