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The Trump administration’s newly announced policy of minimizing refugee admissions — from around 125,000 to 7,500 — while giving priority to white Afrikaners from South Africa has prompted a rebuke from the kinds of evangelical groups one might expect to see among the MAGA faithful.
To slash refugee resettlement to historic lows while granting privilege to white South Africans, all while peddling bigoted lies about anti-white oppression in their home country, is an unmistakably racist move by the administration. It also creates problems for churches that welcome new members from around the world, including refugees from places where Christians may be facing persecution.
Many faith groups appear alarmed by the new policy. Christianity Today quoted Matthew Soerens, an executive for the Christian humanitarian organization World Relief, saying the new policy “is slamming the door on persecuted Christians, along with those persecuted for other reasons.”
Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, issued a critical statement, urging the administration to grant “due consideration for all those who have long awaited their opportunity for relief.” He continued:
We cannot turn a blind eye to the disparate treatment of refugees currently taking place. As exemptions are considered, it is essential that they be applied consistently and without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin, in accordance with longstanding domestic and international norms. Resettlement tainted by the perception of unjust discrimination is contrary to Catholic teaching and quintessential American values, grounded in our Constitution and refugee laws, including the equality of every person from the moment of their creation by God.
Several other faith-based organizations — including Church World Service, which represents a network of Christian humanitarian groups — have denounced the changes to the refugee resettlement program as well.
The administration faced backlash previously from faith groups over cuts to health care and food assistance in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as the administration’s harsh anti-immigration policies.
It’s ironic that these groups are sounding the alarm on the dangers and difficulties being creating for Christians abroad by an administration that has so visibly aligned itself with right-wing Christians and that portrays itself as a defender of Christianity — even as it is led by an adjudicated sex abuser who has worried publicly on several occasions that he doesn’t think he’s going to heaven.
Ja’han Jones is an MSNBC opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. He is a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”
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