Sustain the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program

A Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement

As Christians, we are committed to upholding the dignity of every human life, as made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This fundamental belief compels us to address one of the most pressing moral issues of our time: the forced displacement of people.

More people are forcibly displaced today than at any other time in recorded history. Approximately 120 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of violence, war, and religious persecution. Nearly 40 million of these displaced people have crossed an international border as refugees. Throughout Scripture, we repeatedly see God’s heart for the vulnerable and displaced. Jesus was forced to flee to safety in Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath (Matthew 2:13-15). God’s Word calls for and expects God’s people to minister to the sojourner (Exodus 22:21–24; Leviticus 19:33–34; Deuteronomy 10:17–22; Psalm 146:8–9; Matthew 25:35–40). As followers of Christ, we are called to reflect His love and mercy through our actions and policies.

We are grateful for President-elect Trump’s commitment to ensuring that our nation’s borders are strong and secure. We also appreciate and affirm his recent call to ensure systems so that immigrants “with love for the country” are able “to come in legally.”

One important way to ensure secure borders is to have a well-functioning legal immigration system, where a limited number of individuals eager to embrace the values of our country and subject themselves to a thorough vetting process overseas have the opportunity to come in. Sustaining legal opportunities for entry, particularly for those who have fled persecution, reduces the pressure on individuals to make their own way to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The U.S. refugee resettlement program is a longstanding legal immigration process that also advances another value that President-elect Trump has indicated is a high priority, protecting persecuted Christians and others fleeing religious persecution. In FY 2024, the U.S. resettled 29,493 Christian refugees from the fifty countries where Open Doors U.S. finds that Christians face the most severe persecution. Other persecuted religious minorities such as Jewish and Yezidi refugees have also long benefited from this vital, life-saving legal immigration process. Indeed, individuals persecuted for their faith in repressive countries who have been invited to experience religious and economic freedom in our great country are among the most grateful, America-loving individuals in the world.

As lawfully-admitted individuals who are authorized to work from the day that they arrive, refugees also play a vital role in our labor market, filling key jobs in ways that benefit all Americans economically. While there are some initial costs related to refugee resettlement, a study by economists at the University of Notre Dame finds that, within twenty years, the average refugee adult is a net fiscal contributor, paying in approximately $21,000 more in taxes at all levels than the combined cost of governmental expenditures on their behalf.

Whereas unlawful entries at our border by unvetted individuals present a significant public safety concern, the Heritage Foundation has affirmed that “refugees undergo more vetting than any other immigrants to the U.S.” and that this vetting and the nature of the resettlement process make it “an unattractive option for terrorists trying to infiltrate the U.S.”

Since the formalization of the U.S. refugee resettlement program in 1980, refugee resettlement has been facilitated through a public-private partnership between the federal government and several non-profit organizations, most of which are faith-based, including evangelical and Catholic organizations. Many local churches and other houses of worship partner with these organizations to help refugees rebuild their lives in the United States.

Another program, the Welcome Corps, allows individual congregations or other groups of Americans to sponsor and cover the resettlement costs for specific refugees abroad, which has created a vital avenue for Americans to stand with those persecuted for their faith while minimizing governmental costs.

Refugee resettlement is broadly supported by the American people. A 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center found that most Republicans as well as most Democrats and Independents believe that receiving refugees should be an important goal of U.S. immigration policy. 71 percent of evangelical Christians believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees, according to a 2024 Lifeway Research survey.

For all these reasons, as President-elect Trump returns to the White House, we encourage him to sustain the U.S. refugee resettlement program. In 2017, in President Trump’s first week of his first term in office, he issued an executive order revising the ceiling for refugee admissions at least 50,000, and we urge him to once again set the ceiling for refugee admissions at that level or higher, consistent with his commitments both to secure borders and to religious liberty and opportunity for all.

Carroll Conley, Executive Director, Christian Civic League of Maine

Dr. Walter Kim, President, National Association of Evangelicals

Hulda Fahmi, Communications Associate, Jubilee Campaign

Ryan Brown, President / CEO, Open Doors

Daniel Degner, President, Wisconsin Family Council

David Nammo, Executive Director & CEO, Christian Legal Society

Bob Fu, President, China Aid

Mark Tooley, President, The Institute on Religion and Democracy

Brent Leatherwood, President, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

(Baltimore, MD) January 14, 2025 – Today, World Relief joined leaders of several other prominent evangelical Christian organizations in releasing “A Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement.”

The statement is signed by leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention as well as by leaders of state-level conservative Christian advocacy organizations and advocates for persecuted Christians around the world.

“We are grateful for President-elect Trump’s commitment to ensuring that our nation’s borders are strong and secure. We also appreciate and affirm his recent call to ensure systems so that immigrants ‘with love for the country’ are able ‘to come in legally,’” the statement notes, highlighting that the longstanding U.S. refugee resettlement program as just such a program, one “that also advances another value that President-elect Trump has indicated is a high priority, protecting persecuted Christians and others fleeing religious persecution.” In 2024, 29,493 Christian refugees were resettled to the United States from the 50 countries where Open Doors US finds that Christians face the most severe persecution.

The statement highlights the economic contributions of refugees, the strong track record of vetting and security, the role of churches in integrating refugees and broad popular support for refugee resettlement, including from evangelical Christians, 71 percent of whom indicated in a 2024 Lifeway Research survey that they believe receiving refugees is a moral obligation for the United States.

The statement observes that President Trump set the maximum number of refugees to be admitted at 50,000 in his first week in office in 2017 and urges him “to once again set the ceiling for refugee admissions at that level or higher, consistent with his commitments both to secure borders and to religious liberty and opportunity for all.”

“President Trump can lead the nation in rescuing persecuted Christians, as well as believers of other faiths, by maintaining and strengthening the U.S. refugee resettlement program. As the son of a refugee from North Korea, I am alive today because my father was given refuge in South Korea and immigrated to the United States. Evangelical Christians stand ready to partner with the Trump administration to welcome persecuted refugees, knowing that by doing so we are obeying and serving our Lord,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals.

“The U.S. refugee resettlement program has long been a vital way that the United States has stood alongside those who are persecuted, including because of their faith in Jesus, and thousands of American churches have been a part of welcoming refugees. As President Trump takes office, evangelical Christians urge him to sustain the refugee resettlement program,” said Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief.

“At a time when Christians around the world are living under unprecedented threat of persecution, a continued commitment to walking with our brothers and sisters is vital,” said Ryan Brown, president and CEO of Open Doors US. “I’m thankful for President Trump’s strong advocacy for the persecuted church and believe a critical piece of that support can be demonstrated through sustaining the U.S. refugee resettlement program.”