No Welcome for Refugees

As the New York Times reported on Thursday, this shocking decision “overhaul[s] a program that for decades made the U.S. a sanctuary from persecution and turns it into one that gives preference to English speakers and white people overseas…”

As an American, I am ashamed and enraged by this decision. It is white supremacy embedded in national policy, and it is an abandonment of our country’s stated values enshrined on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  As a person of Christian faith, I also see this decision and what it represents as a sin against God and God’s children.

Our sacred scriptures make it clear that welcoming the stranger and the foreigner are requirements of our faith. In the Hebrew scriptures, the Israelites were commanded frequently to set aside their suspicions of strangers and to instead show them love. They were reminded that they too had once been strangers in a new land when they were slaves in Egypt. During his ministry, Jesus preached that strangers should be given hospitality, and he practiced that commitment consistently as he extended his invitation and care to those who had been pushed to the margins of society, including those considered ‘foreigners’ of that time.

Our faith tradition leaves no room for doubt. The stranger must be welcomed.  The foreigner is to be received with a generosity of spirit. Our communities must make room for others to enter in. God’s love and mercy knows no borders.

International law defines a refugee as someone who is forced to flee their home country to escape persecution or a serious threat to their life, physical integrity or freedom. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, there were a staggering 42.7 million refugees across the world at the end of 2024.

Refugees languish in camps for years, undergoing substantial background checks, medical exams, interviews, and scrutiny. When President Trump suspended refugee admissions entirely on the first day of his second term, many who had successfully completed this laborious process and were expecting resettlement in the U.S. were suddenly told there was ‘no room at the inn’. Now it seems our nation’s door is being slammed shut to the world’s most desperate and displaced for the foreseeable future.

Nothing about that is consistent with the call and commands of our faith. As Jesus taught us in the Gospel of Matthew, nations will be judged by how they respond to the most vulnerable among us: “…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)

How shall we be judged?

To learn more about how your congregation can welcome refugees already in your community or advocate for just refugee policy, visit our Refugee and Migration Ministries web page or contact Megan Bergert, Minister for Refugee and Migration Services at the National Ministries UCC.

The Reverend Shari Prestemon began her service with the national ministries of the United Church of Christ in January 2024. As the Associate General Minister & Co-Executive for Global Ministries she has the privilege of overseeing several teams: Global Ministries, Global H.O.P.E., Public Policy & Advocacy Team (Washington, D.C.), and our staff representative to the United Nations. She previously served as pastor to local UCC congregations in Illinois and Wisconsin; the Executive Director at the UCC’s Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi; and as Conference Minister in Minnesota.