World Relief Voices Alarm at Reports of Historically Low Refugee Ceiling, Abandonment of Those Fleeing Religious Persecution

Contact: Matthew Soerens, media@wr.org, 920-428-9534

(Baltimore, MD) October 4, 2025 – Today, various news outlets reported that the Trump administration intends to set a Fiscal Year 2026 ceiling for refugee admissions of 7,500, which would be the lowest in the history of the U.S. refugee resettlement program. Reportedly, the vast majority of those few resettlement slots will be reserved for white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the administration has described as victims of discrimination.

“We hope and pray these reports are inaccurate,” said World Relief president & CEO Myal Greene. “At a time when there are more refugees globally than ever in recorded history, the U.S. should not step back. What’s more, a myopic focus on Afrikaners would mean that individuals who are at much greater risk — including persecuted Christians and others fleeing religious persecution, allies of the U.S. military from Afghanistan and Iraq and Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s brutal war— would be effectively abandoned.”

Under the authority of the Refugee Act of 1980, the president has the authority and responsibility to set a refugee ceiling — the maximum number of refugees who could be admitted — after consulting with specific congressional leaders. These consultations have reportedly not yet occurred. 

“We urge President Trump and his administration to refrain from setting any refugee ceiling until consulting with congressional leaders as required by law, and we urge both the president and congressional leaders with whom his administration will consult to ensure that the U.S. sets a goal to admit at least the 50,000 refugees that President Trump set as a ceiling when he first came into office in Fiscal Year 2017,” said Greene. 

While the administration is reportedly considering prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa, many of the president’s evangelical and Catholic supporters have urged him to prioritize those persecuted on account of their religious belief. In Fiscal Year 2020, President Trump became the first president to specifically prioritize persecuted religious minorities in his annual refugee determination and in his recent address to the United Nations he affirmed that Christians, in particular, face severe persecution in many parts of the world. Earlier this year, a Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement highlighting in particular the plight of those fleeing religious persecution garnered tens of thousands of signatures.

“One of the most essential tools the United States has historically used to uphold religious freedom is the U.S. refugee resettlement program,” noted a recent letter to the president signed by leaders at Christian organizations including the National Association of Evangelicals, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Open Doors US and Global Christian Relief. “Throughout history, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, refugee resettlement has offered a lifeline to those escaping religious oppression, from Soviet Jews to Iraqi Yezidis to Christians in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Burma and other countries that persecute followers of Jesus. It is critical that our nation continue to provide refuge to those whose lives are at risk because of their faith…”

In Fiscal Year 2024, a report coproduced by World Relief and Open Doors US found that 29,493 Christian refugees were resettled to the U.S. from the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. While data on the religious demographics of resettled refugees in Fiscal Year 2025 has not yet been published, given the suspension of refugee resettlement that began in January 2025, it’s very clear that the number of Christians who have fled religious persecution resettled under the current Trump administration has been very near to zero — and a sole focus on Afrikaners going forward would preclude a primary focus on those fleeing religious persecution.

“I hope that reports that President Trump is closing the door on persecuted Christians and other refugees fleeing religious persecution are, as the president might say, ‘fake news,’ said Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief. “President Trump has the opportunity to cement a legacy as a champion of persecuted Christians and others fleeing persecution, and I still hope and pray that he will do so.”