The Global Refugee Crisis Is More Urgent Than Ever: America Must Raise the Refugee Cap
A perspective from Marc and Kim Wyatt
For decades, the United States has been a global leader in protecting the lives of refugees. As missionaries, we believe that caring for the suffering and disadvantaged is at the heart of the Christian faith we profess. Refugees are made in God’s image, and they deserve to be welcomed and protected by us.
But in recent years, the U.S. has started to abandon its role as a humanitarian leader in the fight to protect the dignity of our refugee brothers and sisters. Refugee admissions have declined by more than 80% under the current administration. For the first time in history, the United States is lagging behind the rest of the world in resettling refugees. This is a tragedy. Welcoming refugees shouldn’t be about partisan politics; rather, it is at the core of what it means to practice charity and kindness as God commands. As Americans and as Christians, we have to stand up and change the track we’re on.
Refugees are some of the world’s most persecuted and vulnerable people. Due to war, religious bigotry, famine or extreme poverty, they are forced to leave behind their homes and flee for safe haven elsewhere. For many refugees, the decision to seek refugee status is incredibly difficult and dangerous. There is almost no end to the hardship they face traveling in search of a home.
That’s why it matters so much when countries like the U.S. open their doors and become hospitable global neighbors to the world’s refugees. Refugee resettlement programs, like the one established in the U.S. by the Refugee Act in 1980, are a source of hope and comfort along a difficult journey. They can save millions of lives; since 1975, the U.S. has provided flourishing and productive lives to more than 3 million refugees.
Many in America today want to reduce the number of refugees in order to protect the American economy and culture. But the truth is that refugees make our communities stronger. Throughout the pandemic, refugees have stood shoulder to shoulder with native-born Americans in providing essential work on the frontlines; in fact, research from the New American Economy shows that 15.6 percent of all refugees work in the healthcare sector. But that’s only part of a much longer story of refugee contributions. For decades, refugee resettlement has revitalized communities across the U.S., spurred small business growth and powered local economies.
What’s more, refugees bring a cultural and ethnic diversity that enriches, rather than impoverishes, America’s way of life. America was built on the ideals of equality, and welcoming the world’s poor and downtrodden has always been a foundational American value. If America were to start denying refugees today, it would tarnish the values that have historically made America great.
And that’s not even to mention how accepting refugees helps to support and preserve the global Christian community. Millions of today’s refugees are Christians facing persecution in their home countries. Every year America accepts fewer refugees is another year that we ignore the plight of the world’s persecuted Christians. We see this clearly in the fact that, as refugee admissions have dropped in the U.S., there has been a corresponding 90% reduction in Christian refugee resettlement.
The current Trump administration has set an unfortunate trend by lowering the annual cap on refugee admissions by tens of thousands each year. For Fiscal Year 2021, the current administration has proposed a ceiling of just 15,000 refugees – the lowest refugee cap in the history of the U.S. refugee resettlement program. Given America’s founding values, and taking into account the guidance of our Christian faith, we simply must raise the refugee ceiling back to the historical norm. From 1980 to 2017, the U.S. has had an average refugee resettlement limit of 95,000 refugees. We need to return to this noble precedent.
We encourage all of our neighbors who believe in equality and all Christians who accept the Gospel message of charity and welcome to advocate for this return. Accepting refugees is integral to the health and moral goodness of America. We can’t neglect our duty to be good global neighbors to the world’s refugees.
Marc and Kim Wyatt are missionaries and the co-founders of Welcome House Raleigh, a temporary housing ministry for refugees and immigrants seeking a long-term housing across North Carolina.
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