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President Trump is not shy about defending Christianity. His bold commitment to protecting Christians from persecution is one reason that most evangelicals have voted for him in three straight elections. While I am grateful for his strong stand for religious liberty, I’m concerned by his administration’s recent actions threatening Afghan Christians to self-deport “immediately” or face criminal prosecution, fines and deportation – to a Taliban regime likely to kill them for their faith in Jesus.
Recently, many Afghan Christians who were lawfully allowed to enter the United States, who have been living and working lawfully in communities throughout the United States, received letters with a stark message: “It is time for you to leave the United States.” The message insists that the Department of Homeland Security “is terminating your parole,” the legal mechanism that allows these individuals to be safely in the United States. “Do not attempt to remain in the United States – the federal government will find you… depart the United States immediately,” the letter concludes.
Similar letters were apparently sent to hundreds of thousands of others who entered the U.S. lawfully in recent years. But no case is as troubling as Afghan Christians, for whom deportation would likely mean martyrdom. Persecuted church watchdog Open Doors classifies Afghanistan as among the ten most dangerous countries for Christians. The situation for Christians has deteriorated since the Biden administration’s calamitous 2021 withdrawal that left the Taliban in power.
Of course, President Trump himself surely did not draft this letter, and I suspect it was sent so broadly by leaders within the Department of Homeland Security without considering the full ramifications. As the administration hears from conservative evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham, I am praying President Trump will override whoever made the decision to send these letters and allow Afghan Christians to remain lawfully in the United States. At least long enough to submit and receive fair adjudication of asylum requests, or until Congress passes the Afghan Adjustment Act, a bill co-led in the last Congress by Senator Lindsey Graham, that would allow Afghans with parole to apply for permanent legal status so long as they clear stringent vetting processes.
President Trump is absolutely right, of course, to prioritize border security, and most evangelical Christians are thankful for the quick progress he has made to secure our borders. Likewise, almost all evangelical Christians are glad that immigrants convicted of violent crimes are being deported.
But evangelicals also agree with President Trump when he praises legal immigration of individuals who come “with love for the country.” Afghans and others denied religious freedom abroad love this country profoundly – and certainly should not be expelled from it now. Likewise, evangelical Christians want the U.S. to keep its doors open to carefully vetted, lawfully admitted refugees, including Christians from countries like Afghanistan and Iran who faced persecution or even martyrdom in their repressive countries of origin. Last year, roughly 30,000 Christian refugees were resettled from the fifty countries where Open Doors US says that Christians face the most severe persecution in the world.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), my denomination, has repeatedly reaffirmed the biblical call to welcome refugees, who are individuals lawfully admitted to the United States after fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons such as their religion, race or political opinion. Seven in ten evangelical Christians, including about two-thirds of those who voted for President Trump last November, tell Lifeway Research, the SBC’s research arm, that they believe the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees. As President Trump concludes a 90-day review of the refugee resettlement, nearly 20,000 Christians, including a number of prominent evangelical leaders, have affirmed a statement urging him to restart refugee resettlement, with a particular concern for those persecuted for their faith in Jesus.
Of course, as Christians, we affirm the dignity of all people as made in the image of God, not only fellow Christians, so we’re also concerned with the wellbeing of those at risk of persecution who are not Christians. But it turns out that most refugees resettled in recent years have indeed been Christians, as are roughly four out of five of those vulnerable to deportation right now.
I know that President Trump values legal immigration and is a champion for persecuted Christians. I hope and pray he’ll listen to the appeals of evangelical voters, override the actions of overzealous staffers and protect Afghans and others persecuted for their faith in Jesus.
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