Trump’s Suspension of Refugee Admissions Blocks Christians Fleeing Persecution
During his first term, President Donald Trump spoke boldly of religious freedom. At the UN in 2019, for instance, he said, “As president, protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities and always has been. … No matter the case, America will always be a voice for victims of religious persecution everywhere. No matter where you go, you have a place in the United States of America.”
Now in his second term, Trump has created the White House Faith Office to “protect religious liberty” and a Justice Department task force to combat anti-Christian discrimination. “We will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals, and in our public squares,” said Trump in announcing the measure on Feb. 6.
However, when it comes to helping Christians fleeing persecution abroad, Trump said no more—for now.
On his first day as president, Trump signed an executive order to suspend the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), barring potentially thousands of Christian refugees from entering the United States. During his first term, as Cato’s David Bier has reported, Trump reduced Christian refugee entry by 78 percent.
Under USRAP, a refugee is defined as a person persecuted or who fears “persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.” The executive branch determines the number of refugees (and from where) to be admitted for the upcoming fiscal year. No refugees may be admitted until that determination has been signed by the president.
Trump’s suspension of USRAP seems to contradict his stated support for religious liberty here and abroad, which is odd given that religious freedom is supported by conservatives and libertarians.
In his book The Libertarian Mind, David Boaz wrote, “Throughout our history most voters and movements have agreed on the fundamentals of classical liberalism or libertarianism: free speech, religious freedom, equality before the law, private property, free markets, limited government, and individual rights. The broad acceptance of those values means that American liberals and conservatives are fighting within a libertarian consensus.”
Trump’s new suspension affects all refugees, not just Christians, and will stay in force for 90-day intervals thereafter unless the Executive Branch advises ending it. The order says the suspension will hold “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.” Trump makes that call.
Commenting on Trump’s action, Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization, said, “Most evangelical Christians voted for President Trump in 2016, in 2020, and again in 2024. They did so heartened by pledges that he would secure our borders and protect Christians from persecution, but most did not anticipate that he would halt a longstanding, legal immigration program that offers refuge to those persecuted for their Christian faith. We hope and pray he will reconsider.”
Trump’s current actions echo his past actions. As David Bier has documented, the number of refugees overall, including Christian refugees, declined dramatically between 2017 and 2020 (Trump’s first term). This was in contrast to the number of refugees admitted under President Obama and President Biden. Let’s look at some numbers.
In Obama’s last year (FY2016), there were a total of 84,994 refugees admitted into the US. In Trump 45’s last year (FY2020) only 11,814 refugees were allowed in. That’s an 86 percent decline in the final year Obama to Trump. In Biden’s last year (FY2024), 100,034 refugees were admitted. That’s a 747 percent increase over Trump’s last year.
As for Christian refugee admissions in those same timeframes, the numbers show,
Catholic Refugees Accepted in the President’s Final Year
Obama (FY2016) 4,378
Trump (FY2020) 1,061
Biden (FY2024) 14,148
Evangelical Christian Refugees
Obama (FY2016) 354
Trump (FY2020) 357
Biden (FY2024) 5,069
Methodist Christian Refugees
Obama (FY2016) 1,127
Trump (FY2020) 245
Biden (FY2024) 1,009
Orthodox Christian Refugees
Obama (FY2016) 1,552
Trump (FY2020) 352
Biden (FY2024) 1,650
Pentecostal Christian Refugees
Obama (FY2016) 0
Trump (FY2020) 0
Biden (FY2024) 6,707
Protestant Christian Refugees
Obama (FY2016) 2,884
Trump (FY2020) 443
Biden (FY2024) 3,954
Seventh-Day Adventist Christian Refugees
Obama (FY2016) 2,311
Trump (FY2020) 605
Biden (FY2024) 3,186
(Source : US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.)
There were many other refugee arrivals of different Christian denominations and other religions, including Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. However, for Christian refugees, the numbers show that far more were admitted by Presidents Obama and Biden than by President Trump. (In Biden’s final year, nearly 30,000 Christian refugees from 50 countries were admitted into the US, reported World Relief.)
According to the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of all US adults—Protestants, Catholics, and religiously unaffiliated—say that “taking in civilian refugees from countries where people are trying to escape violence and war should be a very or somewhat important goal for immigration policy in the United States.”
Commenting on Trump’s order, Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, said, “President Trump can lead the nation in rescuing persecuted Christians, as well as believers of other faiths, by maintaining and strengthening the US refugee resettlement program. 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.”
During the first three months of FY 2025, which began on Oct. 1, 2024, there were 27,308 refugees admitted into the US, according to the State Department. A large number of those refugees were Christians—exact numbers are not available yet. With Trump’s suspension now in place, no Christian refugees are being admitted.
Given the president’s apparent support for religious freedom—and his many Christian backers—perhaps, as Soerens remarked, he “will reconsider” the suspension.