National leaders tend to reveal their true priorities through the guests they invite to the State of the Union address each year.

Such is certainly the case this year and one thing is perfectly clear: President Trump is prioritizing the protection of Americans from illegal immigrants like the one who killed my son, but the Democrats certainly are not.

While the president has invited an "Angel family" that lost loved ones at the hands of an illegal immigrant last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn’t invited a single one. In fact, no Democrat invited any of the thousands of “Angel families” in America to this year’s State of the Union address.

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As I watch President Trump deliver his address Tuesday night, the crowded gallery of the House of Representatives will serve as a stark reminder of the seat in my own house that now remains empty. It’s the seat where my son Brandon should be sitting but can’t, because he was killed by an illegal immigrant in 2014.

We had just celebrated Mother's Day and Brandon had to leave for his shift at work. The next day, my life changed forever when I got a call from one of Brandon’s fellow police officers telling me something terrible had happened. Shortly after, the Mesa Police Department appeared at my door and told me I needed to get to the hospital immediately. Just minutes after I arrived, my son died in surgery, and my nightmare began.

I later learned that the man who killed my son had been charged with burglary and assaulting a police officer back in the 1990s. In typical fashion, he was given a court date, but never showed up. Instead, he went back to Mexico and was later caught trying to reenter the United States in 2002. Despite the previous criminal charges against him, a judge released this illegal immigrant back into the interior U.S., rather than deport him as he should have.

Speaker Pelosi won’t see me in the gallery on Tuesday, any more than she can see Brandon in the flesh, but that won’t silence us in our quest to end the humanitarian and security crisis on our border that has invited criminals to destroy lives and families throughout America.

The pain of losing Brandon hasn’t diminished a bit over the years. I’m reminded every single day of his senseless, preventable killing. The last few months have been particularly difficult, though, because I’ve had to listen to politicians in Washington make excuses for refusing to secure our border and protect other families from the tragedy that mine has experienced.

Unlike the establishment politicians, President Trump is committed to protecting the American people from illegal immigrants like the one who killed my son. My fight is his fight, and I’m proud that he is the one person in Washington willing to stand up for families like mine.

The Democrats, however, have a different agenda. Their guest list for the State of the Union proves that they care more about political gamesmanship than they do about the safety and security of the American people.

Mary Ann Mendoza and her son Brandon

Just as they did last year, congressional Democrats are inviting illegal immigrants to attend the prestigious event — the ploy is directed at President Trump, but it’s a slap in the face to the thousands of Americans whose loved ones have died at the hands of criminal illegal immigrants.

Democrats are quick to shed crocodile tears when they discuss the plight of illegal immigrants fleeing poverty and crime, but apparently they have no such sympathy for the American citizens who suffer from the poverty and crime that unrestricted illegal immigration brings to our communities.

Nor do they consider the plight of the many families who’ve lost loved ones to the national opioid epidemic, which is fueled by the illegal narcotics that enter our nation almost entirely through the southern border.

While my son might be little more than an inconvenient statistic to Nancy Pelosi, he was more a genuine patriot than she’ll ever be. Brandon was a police officer who selflessly devoted his life to enforce the laws of our land – the very laws that Pelosi and the Democrats are actively encouraging foreigners to defy.

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Speaker Pelosi won’t see me in the gallery on Tuesday, any more than she can see Brandon in the flesh, but that won’t silence us in our quest to end the humanitarian and security crisis on our border that has invited criminals to destroy lives and families throughout America.

While the Democrats continue to play political games with American lives, I take comfort in knowing that President Trump will keep fighting until our country is secure. As I watch the State of the Union address Tuesday night, I’ll be thinking of Brandon, and praying for our president.