From The Washington Post:
Though the report said people from a variety of religions have been shut out of the United States by a steep decline in resettlement in the past three years, Christians have been hit particularly hard.
“Among those most disadvantaged have been Christian refugees from the countries where Christians face the most severe persecution in the world,” the report said.
The annual ceiling for all refugees was set by the president at 18,000 this year, compared with a historic average of 81,000 and down from 110,000 that President Barack Obama said should be admitted in his last year of office. In 2018, Canada surpassed the United States as the world’s leading harbor for refugees, taking in 28,000 people, while 22,000 came to the United States.
So far in 2020, fewer than 950 Christians have been resettled from the 50 countries where discrimination against Christians is particularly acute. If the pace continues, the report said, this year’s level will be almost 90 percent below the 18,000 Christian refugees admitted five years ago.
For people fleeing some countries, the decline has been even more precipitous. In the first six months of 2020, 336 Christians from Myanmar were allowed to come, down from more than 11,000 settled in 2015. Only 43 Iraqi Christians were settled in the first half of the year, compared with 1,500 in 2015 and 2,000 in 2016.
A State Department spokesperson said that in fiscal 2020, 5,000 places were set aside for people subject to religious persecution. As of June 30, a total of 3,564 people had been admitted.
Even as governors and mayors have pleaded with the administration to allow in more immigrants, the White House has repeatedly slashed the number of refugee admissions. At times, the admissions have not even reached the lowered ceilings set by the president. With just three months left in the current fiscal year, fewer than 7,600 refugees have been accepted, less than half the announced cap.
According to World Relief:
“In their shocking report ‘Closed Doors: Persecuted Christians and the U.S. Refugee Resettlement and Asylum Processes,’ World Relief and Open Doors USA document the tragic persecution of Christians whose only crime is belief in Jesus,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “Even more shocking is the revelation that the United States, long a beacon of hope for those fleeing religious persecution, has closed its doors to virtually everyone seeking our protection, including persecuted Christians. We must change this policy and remain a leader for religious freedom.”
“We are living in what St. John Paul II called a ‘new age of martyrdom’, where many worldwide face persecution for their faith,” said Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. “As this report documents, there are dramatic decreases in the ability of those fleeing for their lives to access protection. I pray our nation will reverse course and once again stand with refugees and asylum seekers, including those escaping religious persecution. Catholic and evangelical leaders have formally asked the Administration to consider refugees fleeing persecution at this time.”
Additional details here.
You can download the full report here.
