Bishop Mariann Budde, known for her public criticism of former President Trump, has been revealed to have amassed a substantial $53 million in taxpayer funds through her organization, Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).
This revelation has only served to confirm the suspicions of those who have long questioned the sincerity of left-leaning religious leaders who advocate for compassion while simultaneously profiting from public funds.
During an inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral, Budde implored Trump to extend his compassion to vulnerable groups, including illegal immigrants and members of the LGBTQ community. "Let me make one final plea, Mr. President," Budde began. "As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God."
"In the name of a loving God, to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now," she stated. "There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives."
"And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildingsThey may not be citizens or have the proper documentation," she added. "The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighborsMay I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away," she concluded.
According to Gateway Pundit, Trump responded to Budde's comments in a late-night post to Truth Social, asserting that she and the church owe the public an apology. The post read: "The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way."
"She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. 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."
Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!
Budde's moral grandstanding conveniently overlooks the fact that the EMM, the federal contracting arm of her church, has been profiting significantly from taxpayer-funded government programs designed to resettle migrants. In 2023 alone, EMM received $53 million to resettle 3,600 individuals, as reported by the New York Post.
The news outlet further reported that in 2024, EMM "sponsored" 6,400 individuals from 48 countries, including Afghans under a special humanitarian program and refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. These new arrivals are immediately eligible for all forms of welfare, such as Medicaid and cash assistance, on the same basis as U.S. citizens. Additionally, they can sponsor friends and relatives under a recent Biden expansion of the refugee resettlement program.
The New York Post also highlighted that EMM brings in LGBTQ refugees and asylees through a special federal refugee program initiated during the Obama administration called "Preferred Communities." This program pays a premium over standard refugee resettlement for contractors that resettle "refugees experiencing social or psychological difficulties, including emotional trauma resulting from war and/or sexual or gender-based violence; survivors of torture; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) refugees; refugees who are HIV positive; populations with physical disabilities or other medical conditions."
The Episcopal Church also earns a commission for collecting on travel loans made to refugees resettled by EMM. The U.S. taxpayer funds the International Organization for Migration, which loans money for airfare for the refugees flight to America. If the refugee pays the interest-free loan back, the church (not EMM) pockets 25% of the money. If the loan is not paid back, no one is the worse off, except the taxpayer.
Archbishop Vigano penned an op-ed suggesting that these leaders, including those in the Catholic Church and other denominations, are part of a globalist agenda that benefits them financially and socially while contradicting their stated values and institutional roles. He wrote: "When the servants of the globalist elite placed at the top of the institutions both civil and religious talk about welcoming illegal immigrants, they do not tell you that they make huge profits from the management of immigrants."
"When they talk about the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, they do not tell you that they have a conflict of interest since they themselves are involved. When they talk about going green, they do not tell you about their non-disinterested investments in the alternative energy sector. This betrayal of their institutional role is what unites them: they earn money and increase their social power to the extent that they support the globalist agenda."
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