Trump’s Executive Order Harms Persecuted Christians, Argues World Relief

Donald Trump World Relief
Then-President-elect Donald Trump watching fireworks at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Less than a week after Donald Trump’s inauguration, World Relief is calling on the president to reverse course on immigration policy, particularly with regard to an executive order suspending the United States Refugee Admission Program (USRAP). 

World Relief argues that Trump’s course of action exacerbates humanitarian concerns, including for Christians fleeing persecution around the world. 

World Relief is a Christian humanitarian organization whose mission is “to boldly engage the world’s greatest crises in partnership with the church.” For decades, the organization has worked to resettle refugees. World Relief has partnered with the U.S. State Department in its work since 1979. 

World Relief Advocates for United States Refugee Admission Program in Light of Trump’s Executive Order

Ahead of Trump’s inauguration, World Relief published a statement urging Trump to support the continuance of the USRAP. The USRAP is a collaborative program involving several government agencies and nonprofit organizations and has a legacy of resettling refugees and displaced people since World War II. 

“We are grateful for President Trump’s commitment to ensuring that our nation’s borders are strong and secure,” the statement said. “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 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,” the statement went on to note. “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.”

The statement was signed by a number of evangelical pastors and leaders, including Brent Leatherwood, who serves as president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; Dr. Walter Kim, who is president of National Association of Evangelicals; and Ryan Brown, who is president of Open Doors. 

Nevertheless, Trump signed an executive order suspending the program on Jan. 20—Trump’s first day in office. 

RELATED: On World Refugee Day, Relief Organizations Celebrate Partnerships With Churches

The executive order reads in part, 

The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees. This order suspends the USRAP until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.

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Dale Chamberlain
Dale Chamberlain (M.Div) is Content Manager for ChurchLeaders. With experience in pastoral ministry as well as the corporate marketing world, he is also an author and podcaster who is passionate about helping people tackle ancient truths in everyday settings. Dale lives in Southern California with his wife Tamara and their three sons.

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