Unite for Biblical Values in Immigration Policy

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.

Dr. Walter Kim, President, National Association of Evangelicals

David Nammo, Executive Director & CEO, Christian Legal Society

Daniel Degner, President, Wisconsin Family Council

Ryan Brown, President / CEO, Open Doors

Carroll Conley, Executive Director, Christian Civic League of Maine

Hulda Fahmi, Communications Associate, Jubilee Campaign

Ryan Brown, President / CEO, Open Doors