Former President Donald Trump pledged to protect Christians from religious persecution, but his refugee plans could contradict that promise.

Conformable a new report by World Relief and Open Doors, two faith-based nonprofits, more than 365 million Christians—1 in 7 Christians worldwide—face high levels of religious persecution. In fiscal year 2024, the United States welcomed nearly 30,000 Christian refugees fleeing countries with high levels of anti-Christian persecution, the highest total since 2016.

But Trump, if elected, has vowed to cut off all refugee resettlement in the US on day one – effectively closing the door on thousands of Christians who might otherwise find refuge in the US.

“This is of course very concerning to us,” said Matt Soerens, World Relief’s vice president of advocacy and policy. “We certainly do not want to see the doors of the United States slammed shut on those fleeing persecution because of their faith, which would mean suspending all refugee admissions.”

Protecting Christians in the US is a central part of the The 2024 Republican Party Platform. If Trump wins, the platform pledges to: a federal task force which would “investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in America.” He also promises to use “tight control” to keep “Christian-hating” immigrants out of the country.

Still, Trump’s plan would keep out Christians fleeing persecution. In speeches and social media posts, Trump has vowed to end all refugee resettlement in the US on his first day in office. “As president, I will immediately end the migrant invasion of America,” he wrote on September 15 post on Xnoting that it would also “suspend refugee resettlement.” During a July rally in Minnesota, Trump pledged to “reinstate the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop resettlement and keep terrorists out of our country.”

Trump’s allies are calling for a halt or reduction in refugee resettlement

The idea of ​​severely curtailing humanitarian immigration has gained traction among Trump supporters. Stephen Miller, Trump’s top immigration adviser, has done it repeatedly argument that legal immigration should be reduced in a second Trump administration, including a pause on resettlement of all refugees. Vivek Ramaswamy, who abandoned his short-lived presidential campaign to support Trump, called for the refugee cap to be set at “zero” or “damn close to zero”.

“I think we need purely merit-based immigration,” Ramaswamy said said the Deseret News last year. “We put the interests of the motherland first.”

During Trump’s first term, resettling refugees fleeing anti-Christian persecution collapsed. In fiscal year 2016, more than 32,000 Christian refugees were resettled from countries in Open House Watchlistwhich ranks the most dangerous places for Christians. By fiscal year 2018, that number had dropped to 11,529; by fiscal year 2020, it was 5,390.

The US president has the unilateral authority to set the cap on refugee admissions each year. In 2020, Trump set the refugee cap at 15,000, the lowest mark since the Refugee Act of 1980 gave the president the power to set the cap. The highest mark, in fiscal year 1980 under President Jimmy Carter, was 231,700.

In 2022, President Joe Biden set the cap at 125,000. In fiscal year 2024, more than 100,000 refugees were resettled in the US for the first time since 2016.

It took time to get to that level: Even when Biden raised the annual cap on relocation, only about 26,000 were relocated in his first full fiscal year in office and 60,000 in his second. “It’s not just a switch that you turn off and on,” Soerens said. After the Trump administration cut the refugee cap, many of the federally funded refugee resettlement agencies were forced to lay off staff or cut services. Rebuilding the capacity to resettle large numbers of refugees — even after the cap has been lifted — is a tall order, Soerens said.

“Signing a piece of paper takes seconds,” he said. “But rebuilding a program that was almost entirely shut down — which we experienced between 2017 and 2020 — takes a long time,” he explained.

Nadine Maenza, president of the International Secretariat for Religious Freedom, noted that US efforts to resettle refugees are setting the tone for the world. “When the U.S. reduces its (refugee admissions), countries around the world reduce their numbers,” Maenza said in a statement. “So when we close our doors, guess what happens? Other countries are closing their doors and it’s becoming an even bigger problem in the world.”

It’s unclear whether Trump’s relocation hiatus will be temporary or last for the duration of his four-year term.

Soerens encouraged whoever wins the presidential election — whether Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris — to take seriously the charge of protecting persecuted Christians. “This shouldn’t be a Republican or Democrat issue. This is an American problem,” he said. “This is an opportunity, if we believe in international religious freedom, to stand with those who have been persecuted in countries that deny that freedom to people.”