Faith Leaders Condemn Administration Efforts to Abandon Historic U.S. Refugee Program

As people of faith, we have watched with growing alarm the White House’s ongoing efforts to undermine this country’s proud tradition of welcoming the stranger. In our congregations, our communities, and our pews, we have long worked, advocated, and prayed in support of refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable people fleeing persecution around the globe. Today, as barrier after barrier is erected to deny those seeking refuge, safety and compassion, we are compelled to speak out - and make good on the spiritual call to love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. (1 John 3:18) 

This spring, as the Administration moved to close the legal pathways that have for decades offered protection and support to refugees and asylum seekers, Church World Service and its partners banded together to sound the alarm through an Ecumenical Declaration in defense of refuge. Issued in faith and in love, the Declaration affirmed our commitment to the centuries-old practice of Christian communities walking alongside refugees and immigrants in their pursuit of safety and dignity. Together, we pledged to restore and promote hospitality and welcome to those seeking refuge – regardless of where they are from, how they pray or what language they speak. 

Today we stand together again, appalled and ashamed, as our government turns its back on families in desperate need by seeking to dismantle the US refugee program, a public-private partnership that many of our organizations and congregations have helped implement since its founding in 1980. Worse still, the White House has made clear that destroying this highly successful, life-saving program isn’t enough – it now seeks to transform that program into something unrecognizable and unworthy of its proud history. By drastically reducing the number of refugees to be admitted in the coming year, and by prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa for nearly all those slots, the White House is shamefully abandoning the tens of thousands of bona fide refugees who have already been vetted and approved for resettlement in the US. Such a recasting of the refugee program would represent a stark and deeply cynical betrayal of its original spirit and long history of offering protection to those most in need. 

United in our historic commitment to the safety, dignity and rights of all those seeking refuge, we call upon the White House and Congressional leaders to make good on this country’s promise to the thousands of refugees who it has already approved for resettlement, and – in keeping with the refugee program’s lifesaving character - to prioritize other highly vulnerable groups, such as our Afghan allies and religious minorities who continue to live in peril. On behalf of our churches and communities, we urge this country’s leaders to reaffirm the most basic civic value shared by all faith traditions – the commandment to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:39). Together, may we all remain steadfast until we realize God’s vision of welcome for all.