NJ Bishop Asks Trump To Be Kinder To Immigrants. 'Boring,' He Replies

NEW JERSEY — Mariann Edgar Budde made a simple but poignant plea to President Donald Trump on Tuesday during a prayer service in Washington: “Have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared.”

Trump’s response to the bishop’s comments? She’s “boring.”

That was the exchange between the newly inaugurated president of the United States and Budde – a former New Jersey resident – who asked Trump to be kinder to immigrants and the LGBTQ community during a service at the Washington National Cathedral.

Trump was sworn in as the 47th president on Monday after overcoming impeachments, criminal indictments and two assassination attempts.

His administration didn’t waste any time making its first moves. On his first day in office, the White House announced a sweeping wave of presidential actions and executive orders. Among them were plans to launch a nationwide immigration crackdown and “establish male and female as biological reality.”

“Over the last four years, the United States has endured a large-scale invasion at an unprecedented level,” the Trump administration said. “Millions of illegal aliens from nations and regions all around the world successfully entered the United States where they are now residing.”

“This cannot stand,” the president continued.

The plans announced by the White House this week have shaken many social justice advocates across the nation, including Budde.

“The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” Budde told Trump in a soft-but-firm voice on Tuesday, speaking to him directly in the audience as he listened silently.

“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here,” she said.

The bishop asked Trump to show compassion and empathy for gay, lesbian and transgender children – whether they’re Democrats, Republicans or independent voters. She also advocated for “the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings… who labor on poultry farms and meat packing plants… who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants… who 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,” Budde said.

Budde is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and previously served as rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She grew up in New Jersey and Colorado.

• See Related: Trump Targets Sanctuary Cities, Immigrants Fight Back
• See Related: NJ Undocumented Immigrants Pay $1B In Taxes, Study Says (Here’s How)

The president hit back at Budde in a post on Truth Social, saying that she was a “radical-left, hard line Trump hater” who “brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way.”

Trump insisted that a “giant crime wave” is taking place in the U.S., despite law enforcement statistics that show violent crime has been trending down across the nation. Read More: New Shooting, Car Theft Data Released In NJ Shows 'Historic' Low Numbers

“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one,” Trump quipped. “She is not very good at her job. She and her church owe the public an apology.”

Meanwhile, Trump is also facing scrutiny from one of the world’s most recognizable religious leaders: Pope Francis.

Speaking from the Vatican on Sunday, the pope called the Trump administration’s deportation plans a “disgrace,” saying that they will make “poor wretches that don't have anything foot the bill.”

“That's not right,” he said. “That's not how you solve problems.”

• See Related: NJ Sues Trump Over Ending Birthright Citizenship

TRUMP, RELIGION AND NEW JERSEY

Budde isn’t the only religious leader in New Jersey who has been criticizing Trump as he takes the reins for his second term.

Last week, dozens of clergy members from across New Jersey gathered at an interfaith service in Newark to decry the mass deportations that the president is promising. The event featured speeches from two immigrants, who described how many people in their communities are terrified to leave their homes because they are afraid of being arrested.

The event also included participation from Cardinal Joseph Tobin, head of the Newark Archdiocese – which serves 1.3 million Catholic residents in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties.

“Within the Catholic tradition and other faith expressions represented here today, we’re able to see the humanity in everyone,” the archbishop said. “We care for the most vulnerable — children, the poor, the orphans, and yes, the immigrants.”

• See Related: Religious Leaders Unite In NJ To Oppose Mass Deportations

In September 2024, several clergy members in North Jersey blasted Trump and Vice President JD Vance after their controversial allegations that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.

Those claims – which went viral on the internet – have been repeatedly debunked and proven false. They ignited a firestorm of criticism across the nation, including from Faith in New Jersey, a multi-faith and multi-racial network of clergy members from the Garden State.

“Although New Jersey is home to the fourth-largest population of Haitian residents in the country, their plight is often not championed by all of our electeds and they – like most Black immigrants – are erased from the immigrant justice fight by the media,” said Charlene Walker, executive director of Faith in New Jersey.

“As people of moral conscience, we will not stand idly by while our siblings have a target placed on their backs by the Trump/Vance campaign,” Walker added.

• See Related: Outrage In New Jersey Over ‘Racist’ Claims From Trump, Vance

Trump has seen support from some New Jersey religious leaders in the past, however.

In 2017, a priest from Essex County amassed almost 10,000 Facebook and Twitter followers by effusively praising Trump, railing against Muslims, assailing millennials as "snowflakes" who attend "cry-ins" and describing liberals as "smug and arrogant."

• See Related: Pro-Trump NJ Priest Dislikes Muslim Immigration, Loves Rainbows

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