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 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 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 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.

Myal Greene, president & CEO, World Relief

Doug Sauder, lead pastor, Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (FL)

James Merritt, senior pastor, Cross Pointe Church, Duluth, GA and former president, Southern Baptist Convention

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

Chad Gilbert, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church of New Orleans

Raymond Chang, President, Asian American Christian Collaborative

Katie Fruge, Executive Director, Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission

Eric Costanzo, Senior Pastor, South Tulsa Baptist Church

Micah Fries, Director, Glocal.net

Sandra Van Opstal, Director, Chasing Justice

Joel Rainey, Senior Pastor, Covenant Church

Gabriel Salguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition

Jonathan Misirian, Lead Pastor, Southbrook Church

Kaitlyn Schiess, Writer and Podcast Host, Holy Post Media

Robert Albino, Public Policy Director, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

David Hoag, President, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities

Dana Williams, Assistant Pastor, King’s Park International Church

Nathanael Schey, Assistant Pastor, Coeur d’Alene Bible Church

Alan Dunham, Assistant Pastor, Chippewa Valley Bible Church

Mindy Belz, Board Member, World Relief

Ruth Melkonian-Hoover, Author, Gordon College

Brian Fikkert, Author, Chalmers Center at Covenant College

Amy DiMarcangelo, Author

Jen Pollock Michel, Author

Elyse Fitzpatrick, Author, Elyse Fitzpatrick Ministries Inc.

Todd Hunter, Founder, The Center for Formation, Justice, and Peace

Brian Wilson, District Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene

Carl Nelson, CEO, Transform Minnesota

Rachel Uthmann, Director, International Association for Refugees

Tess Clarke, Director, We Choose Welcome

Stephanie Crider, Director, Undivided

Lemi Berhan, Director, Ethiopian Evangelical Christian Coalition

Charity Wahrenberger, Director, Association for Public Justice

Stephen Reeves, Executive Director, Fellowship Southwest

Jesse Rincones, Executive Director, Convencion Bautista Hispana de Texas

Lorie Grucelski, Executive Director, LCBC Church

Albert Hung, Executive Director, Northern California District Church of the Nazarene

Mary Kaech, Executive Director, Phoenix Refugee Connections

Lisa Rodriguez-Watson, Executive Director, Missio Alliance

Eric Henderson, Lead Pastor, Bethany Community Church

Scott Venable, Lead Pastor, Northwood Church

Mitchel Lee, Lead Pastor, Grace Community Church

Marcio Sierra, Lead Pastor, Lighthouse Church and School

Byron Pitts, Missions Pastor, First Baptist San Antonio

Bri Stensrud, Director, Women of Welcome

Napp Nazworth, Executive Director, American Values Coalition

*Church/Ministry Affiliation is listed for identification purposes only and does not represent an organizational endorsement

(Baltimore, MD) April 17, 2025 – Today, World Relief is re-releasing “A Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement” with tens of thousands of sign-ons from Christians representing all fifty states, thousands of local churches and many prominent evangelical institutions. The statement urges the Trump administration to resume the U.S. refugee admissions process that was suspended by an Executive Order issued on January 20, 2025.

Under the terms of that Day One order, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is to submit a recommendation to the president by this Sunday, April 20, on whether the U.S. refugee resettlement process should resume. The statement highlights broad Christian support for resuming refugee resettlement, consistent with a January poll of U.S. evangelical Christians by Lifeway Research that found seven out of ten evangelicals — including roughly two-thirds of evangelicals who voted for President Trump last November — believe the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees.

The statement, first drafted in between President Trump’s electoral victory and his inauguration, is signed by thousands of local pastors, denominational leaders, influential authors and podcasters, leaders of prominent national and state-based Christian advocacy organizations and advocates for persecuted Christians globally.

It highlights the longstanding U.S. refugee resettlement program’s alignment with President Trump’s comments praising legal immigration and affirming the importance of ensuring secure borders. It also underscores the vital role of the U.S. refugee resettlement program in offering refuge to Christians persecuted for their faith. In 2024, most of the 100,034 refugees resettled to the U.S. were Christians, and most of those Christians — 29,493 — came from the 50 countries where persecuted church watchdog Open Doors US says that Christians face the most severe persecution.

The statement also highlights a private sponsorship process for refugee resettlement, Welcome Corps, which has been a particular avenue for church-based groups to welcome specific refugees, with private groups taking on the resettlement costs typically covered by taxpayers. This sponsorship process has also been suspended, leaving persecuted Christians from countries such as Afghanistan and Iran in limbo. But churches, individual Christians and other supporters have readily showed their eagerness to financially support the refugee resettlement process, contributing more than $10 million to World Relief in the past three months in response to gaps created by the administration’s abrupt termination of pre-committed funds for already-resettled refugees and vulnerable people elsewhere around the globe.

Noting that President Trump set the maximum number of refugees to be admitted at 50,000 in his first week in office in 2017, signatories 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.”

World Relief has requested the opportunity to meet with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance and White House Faith Office Director Jennifer Korn, to allow a small group of prominent signatories to present this Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement in person.

The following are quotes from a few of the thousands of Christians who signed onto this statement:

Ryan Brown, president and CEO, Open Doors US:

“As an organization dedicated to serving the millions of believers facing persecution and discrimination because of their faith in Jesus, we know it is a small number of believers that will ever seek refugee status in the U.S. We also know the U.S. refugee resettlement program has historically been a crucial lifeline for these persecuted believers. As Christians around the world continue to face unprecedented persecution, we encourage the administration to consider the vital role refugee resettlement plays in addressing the plight of persecuted Christians.”

Walter Kim, president, National Association of Evangelicals:

“President Trump can lead the nation in rescuing persecuted Christians, as well as believers of other faiths, by restoring 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.”

Katie Frugé, executive director, Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission:

“As the end of the 90-day pause on refugee resettlement approaches, I look back and give thanks for each of the 29,493 Christian refugees from countries where Christians face the most severe persecution who were resettled in 2024. Indeed, America’s longstanding commitment to religious freedom at home and abroad has made it a beacon of hope for persecuted Christians around the globe. I pray that our nation will continue to rise as a protector of those tormented by religious persecution, upholding our great tradition of compassion and strength.”

Myal Greene, president and CEO, World Relief:

“Most Christians support President Trump’s commitment to ensuring secure borders, but they also support sustaining legal immigration avenues for carefully vetted individuals who have fled persecution. We’re praying for the opportunity to explain to President Trump and his senior advisors why so many local churches and the voters who make them up want him to restore the refugee resettlement program.”

Jen Pollock Michel, Christian author:

“Refugee resettlement is not only a Christian priority, given our biblical commitment to protect the most globally vulnerable. It’s something the majority of Americans support. I urge President Trump to re-establish a humanitarian program that has historically brought hope to the persecuted and war-torn of the world.”

Doug Sauder, lead pastor, Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (FL):

“The Christian church has a great tradition of caring for refugees. This tradition comes from a clear mandate in scripture that we care for the widow, the orphan and the refugee. In every society through the last 2,000 years, Christians have advocated for the care of these vulnerable people groups, and the refugee resettlement program and the work of World Relief should continue its good work as we resettle persecuted Christians and those who have helped our nation at a great cost to themselves.”

Bri Stensrud, director, Women of Welcome:

“Christians have mobilized across the country to welcome refugees for decades. In the past several weeks — faced with the devastating reality that refugees seeking to lawfully enter the U.S. after undergoing a thorough vetting process are now being kept out — Christians are mobilizing to advocate, pleading with President Trump to restore the refugee resettlement program. I pray he will listen!”