In Psalm 72, Solomon prays for power and fame but he says the purpose of influence is to speak up for others and one is the immigrant. He doesn’t delineate between legal and illegal.

Warren invokes Psalm 72—often read as a royal prayer for a just king—to argue that political or social “influence” is morally accountable to the protection of vulnerable people. By highlighting the psalm’s concern for the poor, the oppressed, and the outsider, he reframes power and public recognition not as ends in themselves but as tools for advocacy. His remark that Solomon “doesn’t delineate between legal and illegal” applies that biblical ethic to contemporary immigration debates: the duty to defend and speak for immigrants, in this reading, is grounded in human need and dignity rather than in a person’s legal status. The quote thus functions as a faith-based critique of narrow, status-based compassion.