Editorial credit: Ms Jane Campbell / shutterstock.com
Washington, DC — Using his nativist lies of “invasion” as justification for his extreme policies, Trump announced today that he is deploying troops to the border. Yet, just yesterday, during a service at the National Cathedral, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde, issued a direct plea to President Trump, stating:
“One final plea, Mr. President … I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now …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 in 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 … They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, for those in our communities whose children fear their parents are going to be taken away and to help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.”
Bishop Budde’s comments – and Trump’s dismissive criticism of her after the fact – were an important rebuke to the Trump administration’s sweeping set of immigration announcements, designed to overwhelm potential opposition by the sheer volume of actions and announcements.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice: “President Trump won’t be able to escape the questions and concerns from regular Americans about his cruel policies and the effects these will have on communities across the country. Case in point: Bishop Budde’s powerful admonition not only spoke truth to power, but exemplified that the ‘resistance’ to Trump comes in many ways. It is not only in the form of mass mobilization and marches, but can also be found in the solidarity of the majority of everyday Americans who reject Trump’s agenda. As we saw in the first Trump term, there was a dramatic swing in a pro-immigrant direction during his time in office and upon Americans’ witnessing Trump policies like family separation. The sending of thousands of troops and militarization of border communities only reinforces the chaos and cruelty of his agenda. We again expect a backlash to materialize once his Administration starts raiding schools and churches, tearing families apart and deporting Dreamers; when the workers who keep Americans fed and cared for are targeted by enforcement raids; and when the reality of what Trump and Stephen Miller are proposing becomes real — both for immigrants and the communities they live in.”