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President Trump does not hesitate to defend Christianity. His daring commitment to protect Christians against persecution is one of the reasons why most evangelicals voted for him in three consecutive elections. Although I am grateful for his strong position for religious freedom, I am concerned about the recent actions of his administration threatening Afghan Christians to self -partner “immediately” or to face criminal proceedings, fines and deportation – towards a Taliban regime likely to kill them for their faith in Jesus.
Recently, many Afghan Christians who have been legally authorized to enter the United States, who lived and worked legally in the United States communities, have received letters with an austere message: “It is time for you to leave the United States.” The message insists that the Ministry of Internal Security “puts an end to your parole”, the legal mechanism which allows these people to be safe in the United States. “Do not try to stay in the United States-the federal government will find you … leave the United States immediately,” concludes the letter.
Similar letters have apparently been sent to hundreds of thousands of others that have legally entered the United States in recent years. But no case is as disturbing as Afghan Christians, for whom deportation would probably mean martyrdom. The open doors of the persecuted church classifies Afghanistan as among the ten most dangerous countries for Christians. The situation of Christians has deteriorated since the Calamittes withdrawal of the Biden administration in 2021 which left the Taliban in power.
The Trump administration ends the temporary protected status for thousands of Afghans in the middle of the deportation
Of course, President Trump himself certainly did not write this letter, and I suspect that it was sent so largely by the leaders of the Ministry of Internal Security without considering the complete ramifications. As the administration hears conservative evangelical leaders like Franklin Graham, I pray to President Trump prevailing on anyone who made the decision to send these letters and authorize Afghan Christians to remain legally in the United States. At least long enough to submit and receive a fair arbitration of asylum requests, or until the Congress adopts the Act respecting Afghan adjustments, a co-awarded bill at the last congress by Senator Lindsey Graham, which would allow Afghans to free conditional status to request a permanent legal status as long as they erase strict re-edition processes.
President Trump is absolutely right, of course, to prioritize border security, and most evangelical Christians are grateful for the rapid progress he has made to guarantee our borders. Likewise, almost all evangelical Christians are happy that immigrants condemned with violent crimes are expelled.
But the evangelicals also agree with President Trump when he rents the legal immigration of people who come “with love for the country”. The Afghans and others have denied religious freedom abroad to deeply love this country – and should certainly not be expelled now. Likewise, evangelical Christians want the United States to retain its doors open to carefully verified and legally admitted refugees, including Christians from countries like Afghanistan and Iran who have faced persecution or even martyrdom in their countries of repressive origin. Last year, around 30,000 Christian refugees were resettled in the fifty countries where open doors tell us that Christians are faced with the most serious persecution in the world.
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The Baptist of the South (SBC) convention, my name, has repeatedly reaffirmed the biblical appeal to welcome refugees, who are legally admitted to the United States after having fled a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons such as their religion, their race or their political opinion. Seven out of ten evangelical Christians, including about two-thirds of those who voted for President Trump last November, Tell Lifeway Research, the SBC research branch, which they believe that the United States has moral responsibility for receiving refugees. While President Trump concludes a 90 -day examination of the resettlement of refugees, nearly 20,000 Christians, including a number of eminent evangelical leaders, said a statement exhorting him to restart the resettlement of refugees, with a particular concern for persecuted people for their faith in Jesus.
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Of course, as Christians, we affirm the dignity of all people as they are made in the image of God, not only of other Christians, so we are also concerned about the well-being of people at risk of persecution who are not Christians. But it turns out that most of the refugees reinstalled in recent years have indeed been Christians, just like about four out of five of those vulnerable to deportation at the moment.
I know that President Trump appreciates legal immigration and is a champion of persecuted Christians. I hope and I pray for him to listen to the calls of evangelical voters, will open the actions of the members of the staff who are too zealous and protected the Afghans and others persecuted for their faith in Jesus.
