Evangelical Leaders Petition Trump to Let Afghan Christians Stay in U.S.
Afghan asylum seekers lost temporary protected status last month
Top evangelical leaders are among the 15 signatories of a letter urging President Trump against deporting Afghan Christians, who face potential arrest, torture and death in their homeland under Taliban rule.
Afghan man on the outskirts of Chaman from August 2021 / AP Photo via RNS
The May 2 letter, signed by such prominent figures as National Association of Evangelicals President Dr. Walter Kim, is a response to the Department of Homeland Security declining to renew temporary protected status (TPS) for the approximately 8,200 Afghan nationals living in the U.S., including an estimated 300 Christians.
“Protecting [Afghan Christians] is not only consistent with America’s values; it is a direct extension of your Administration’s commitment to defending religious liberty around the globe,” the letter states.
Other signatories include executives from Focus on the Family, World Relief, the Family Research Council, and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
As an alternative to deportation, the letter recommends the U.S. resettlement program, which Trump suspended in January pending a review.
“One of the most essential tools the United States has historically used to uphold religious freedom is the U.S. refugee resettlement program,” the letter states. “It is critical that our nation continue to provide refuge to those whose lives are at risk because of their faith, including Afghan Christians.”
In April, Afghan nationals were notified their TPS was expiring and they had just seven days to leave the country. The move came as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on what it considers the overuse of TPS. The status was designed to be a short-term fix when refugees cannot safely return to their country, but has been known to extend into a long-term arrangement. El Salvador, for example, has had the TPS designation since 2001.
Afghans have had TPS protection since 2022, after the Biden administration’s military withdrawal from Afghanistan led to evacuations of civilians who feared reprisals by the Taliban. But DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stripped the status after determining that Afghanistan no longer presents the level of danger necessary for a TPS designation.
However, many Christian leaders believe the risk is still too high.
WORLD reported on previous attempts by Christians to dissuade the Trump administration from deporting Afghan believers. Among those advocates was Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham, who told WORLD he had been assured that the deadline for Afghans to leave the U.S. “has been pushed back in order for cases to be reviewed.”
However, according to Fox News, no official has publicly confirmed an extended deadline.
If immigration officials do begin rounding up Afghan nationals for deportation, each refugee will have to apply for asylum or prove in court that it is too dangerous for them to return to their home country.
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