A firestorm has erupted on the American right after the Episcopal Church said it is refusing a directive from the federal government to help resettle white South Africans who were granted refugee status.
Why It Matters
The announcement comes just days after 49 South Africans arrived in the United States for resettlement under a fast-tracked refugee program launched by President Donald Trump, who has accused the South African government of discriminating against its white citizens.
The new arrivals are Afrikaners—descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers—who make up about 2.7 million of South Africa’s 62 million people, more than 80 percent of whom are Black.
The expedited resettlement has sparked criticism, with detractors arguing that it allows white South Africans to bypass a refugee system where thousands from conflict zones around the world remain stuck in years-long vetting processes and dangerous conditions.
What To Know
Prominent right-wing figures lashed out at the Episcopal Church this week after it resisted calls to help resettle white South African refugees, sparking a wave of online outrage and calls to cut its funding.
Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk posted on X: “I guess you aren’t a refugee if you are white. According to the Episcopal Church Jesus doesn’t love white people.”
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones demanded financial retaliation, writing: “All Federal Funds MUST Be Pulled From The Episcopal Church. It’s Time To Enforce The Separation Of Church And State.”
Conservative researcher Parker Thayer highlighted the church’s refugee program, stating it received “over $50 Million per year under Biden,” and claimed to have resettled “6,533 people from 48 different countries in the U.S. during 2024 alone.” He added: “Being asked to resettle
Others questioned the church’s integrity and faithfulness. Senior Counsel at the Article 3 Project, Will Chamberlain, wrote: “How could one, in good conscience, remain in the Episcopal Church after a stunt like this.” Meanwhile, US vice president JD Vance responded simply: “Crazy.”
It comes after the Episcopal Church said it would not help resettle white South Africans granted refugee status because doing so would pose a moral dilemma.
Episcopal Migration Ministries has long resettled refugees under federal grants.
In a letter to church members, the Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church said that about two weeks ago, the government contacted the church and said it expected the ministry to resettle some of the South Africans under terms of its grant.
But Rowe said this request posed a moral dilemma for the Episcopal Church, which has deep ties to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and counts the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu—an outspoken opponent of apartheid—among its spiritual forebears. “In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step,” he wrote.
As a result, Rowe announced that the church will end its formal partnership with the federal government on refugee resettlement: “Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government.”
While federally funded services will be “wound down… by the end of the federal fiscal year in September,” Rowe emphasized that the church remains committed to immigrant and refugee support through non-governmental means, including continued aid to those already resettled.
But Trump and his supporters have argued that Afrikaners in South Africa are victims of unjust racial discrimination and therefore should be granted refugee status in the U.S.
“It’s a genocide that’s taking place, and you people don’t want to write about it. It’s a terrible thing that’s taking place, and the farmers are being killed; they happen to be white. Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa,” Trump said on Monday.
“The newspapers and the media, television media, doesn’t even talk about it. If it were the other way round, they’d talk about it, that would be the only story they talk about. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care about their race, their color, I don’t care about their height, their weight, I don’t care about anything, I just know that what is happening is terrible.”
In February, a South African court ruled that claims of a white genocide were “clearly imagined” and “not real.” Police figures showed around 44 murders on farms and agricultural land in 2024, with eight farmers among them. The South African government has also stridently denied allegations of systemic racial discrimination.
But that has not stopped the Trump administration from moving forward with the program, at a time when most other nations, which previously had pathways to U.S. refugee status, have had the route cut off. On Monday, the administration officially lifted temporary protected status for Afghans, removing a shield from deportation for those in the country even as advocates say the refugees could face violence and persecution under the Taliban.
The move is not the first time the Episcopal Church has clashed with government policy. In January, Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington drew President Trump’s ire after calling for “mercy” for vulnerable groups—including migrants and LGBTQ+ youth—during a national prayer service.
She told a podcast last week: “We don’t necessary have to see the world the same way, but we can all agree we belong to this world… We don’t have the right to deny anyone else there rightful place to be fully themselves.”
What People Are Saying
Charlie Kirk said on X: “I guess you aren’t a refugee if you are white. According to the Episcopal Church Jesus doesn’t love white people.”
Alex Jones said on X: “All Federal Funds MUST Be Pulled From The Episcopal Church. It’s Time To Enforce The Separation Of Church And State.”
Parker Thayer said on X: “The Episcopal Church’s refugee program was getting over $50 Million per year under Biden, and they claim to have resettled 6,533 people from 48 different countries in the U.S. during 2024 alone. Being asked to resettle
Will Chamberlain said on X: “How could one, in good conscience, remain in the Episcopal Church after a stunt like this.”
JD Vance said on X: “Crazy.”
Author Megan Basham said on X: “Welcome the stranger. Unless they’re white.”
Rick Santos, head of Church World Service, said in a statement last week: “We are concerned that the U.S. Government has chosen to fast-track the admission of Afrikaners, while actively fighting court orders to provide life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations who are in desperate need of resettlement.
“By resettling this population, the Government is demonstrating that it still has the capacity to quickly screen, process, and depart refugees to the United States. It’s time for the Administration to honor our nation’s commitment to the thousands of refugee families it abandoned with its cruel and illegal executive order.”
What Happens Next
The Episcopal Church will wind down federally funded services for South African refugees by September.
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