“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.‘” Matthew 2:13
Today is World Refugee Day. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, 117.8 million people–1 in 70 people living on the planet!–are forcibly displaced from their homes “as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.” Like, Mary, Joseph and Jesus, they fear for their lives and seek a place of refuge and safety–often in countries far from their countries of origin. Until 2025, the United States allowed 125,000 refugees to enter the country each year. By an Executive Order by the current administration, the number of refugees allowed to enter the country was drastically cut to a trickle of 7,500 in 2025, and refugee applications that had already been approved were frozen.
The Executive Order not only reduced the number of refugee slots, it also shifted who would be approved for resettlement in the U.S. Prior to 2025, the refugee admissions program prioritize those individuals who had fled their country of origin because of persecution due to their faith, political opinion or race. The new priority focuses on white South Africans who claim they are being persecuted because they are white.
On May 26, 2026, the White House issued an Emergency Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026, that would allow an additional 10,000 refugees to enter the United.States bringing the total to 17,500 for 2026. However, the determination specifies that those additional slots will remain entirely closed to those who meet the traditional legal definition of a refugee. Only white South Africans will be considered for approval.
All others will be rejected. Period. Jesus, a refugee escaping political violence, need not apply.
Matthew Sorens, vice president for advocacy and policy at World Relief, issued the following statement in response to the Presidential Determination: “In his address to the UN in 2019, President Trump declared to those facing religious persecution that ‘no matter where you go, you have a place in the United States of America. We at World Relief still want that sentiment to be true, and we encourage the administration to make good on its repeated promises to offer safe haven, including to those fleeing persecution on account of their faith.”
We Choose Welcome, a faith-based immigrant and refugee advocacy group, also responded: “The radical change in refugee admissions makes a mockery of what has been a successful humanitarian process and abandons the program’s core purpose: prioritizing those facing the most urgent threats to safety.”
Both organizations encourage us all to advocate for those who are seeking refuge by speaking up on their behalf. Here is a toolkit to help you take concrete action for refugees and asylum seekers.
Jesus said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Let’s make sure he has a place of refuge in the United States.
Tongue on Fire 