Refugee cuts affect persecuted Christians
Just weeks into President Trump’s first term, he was asked whether he would make the plight of Christians facing religious persecution abroad a priority of his administration. “Yes,” Trump said. “They’ve been horribly treated.”
The US State Department has backed up Trump’s statement, recently convening its second ministerial to advance religious freedom, which was intended to draw attention to the plight of religious minorities all over the world.
But an increasingly vocal band of advocates and experts says the Trump administration’s policies have failed to address many of the challenges faced by Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities abroad, especially those in the Middle East. Some argue the administration’s efforts to scale back refugee resettlement, deport Chaldean Christians living in the United States, and potentially end temporary protected status for Syrians have only made their situations worse.
