Last month, World Relief published a report in collaboration with Open Doors USA. This report explores how persecuted Christians and the U.S. refugee resettlement and asylum process have been impacted by recent changes in immigration policy.
The report found that since 2015, the number of persecuted Christians resettled in the U.S. has dropped by nearly 90%.
While the report focuses primarily on the effects policy changes in the U.S. have had on persecuted Christians, various other persecuted minority groups have also been largely shut out of resettlement in recent years.
As Christians, we believe that all people have the right to religious freedom and that religious minority of any sort — not just those who share our Christian faith — should be protected.
In an article recently published by The Christian Post, Matt Soerens, World Relief’s U.S. Director of Church Mobilization said, “Since the time of the pilgrims, America has been proud of its legacy of opening its doors to those experiencing religious persecution… American Christians must ask ourselves some tough questions. Scripture makes it clear that all believers are part of the body of Christ and that when one member suffers, the entire body suffers alongside it.”
These dramatic changes to U.S. refugee policy, which many American Christians seem to be either unaware of or indifferent to, “suggest that we’ve closed our ears — and our nation’s doors — to this suffering,” Matt writes.
Download the report to learn more.