Over a dozen Christian leaders urge Trump to protect Afghan Christians from deportation – Christian Post

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More than a dozen Christian leaders have written a letter to President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem calling for protections for Afghan Christian refugees amid concerns about their deportation. 
The letter, published Friday, begins by praising the Trump administration for prioritizing “international religious freedom as a central pillar of American foreign policy.” The Christian leaders urged the administration to “continue this vital work by ensuring that Afghan Christians, among the most vulnerable religious minorities in the world, are not returned to danger.” 
Led by Myal Greene of the Evangelical charity organization World Relief, additional notable signatories include Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood, Open Doors US CEO Ryan Brown, Family Research Council Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Travis Weber and Focus on the Family Vice President of Government and External Relations Tim Goeglein. 
Brian Orme of Global Christian Relief and Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion & Democracy were also among those who signed the letter. 
“Afghanistan is among the most dangerous places in the world for Christians,” the signatories wrote. “Conversion from Islam is considered apostasy under Taliban rule and is punishable by imprisonment or execution.” 
The letter cited reports stating that Afghan Christians who came to the United States after the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and ensuing Taliban takeover now face “the terrifying prospect of forced return to a country where their faith puts them at daily risk of death.” They highlighted how “one group of Afghan Christians has received notice that they had only one week to self-deport, despite the fact that the U.S. asylum process often takes years to complete.”
The signatories say that demanding “that Afghan Christians self-deport within days effectively strips them of that opportunity, placing their lives in direct jeopardy.”
“Forcing them to return under such circumstances would be a tragedy in the making and a blight on America’s record of defending persecuted Christians,” the letter added. “It is critical that our nation continue to provide refuge to those whose lives are at risk because of their faith, including Afghan Christians. Protecting them 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.”
“We respectfully ask you to ensure that Afghan Christians in danger are granted protection in the United States,” the letter continues. “Doing so would fulfill your Administration’s commitment to advancing international religious freedom and demonstrate America’s steadfast support for those who risk everything to live their faith.”
Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicated it would not renew the Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Afghans in the country, with potential deportations that could begin in May. Temporary Protected Status was granted to people fleeing Afghanistan in 2022. 
Weber of the Washington-based Christian conservative activist organization FRC asks the Trump administration “not to throw out the baby with the bath water” as “legitimate reforms to our immigration system are underway.”
“Keeping a pathway for persecuted Christians to receive refugee or asylum status is an important part of the United States’ effort to promote religious freedom,” Weber said in a statement. 
“President Trump has rightly called attention to anti-Christian bias. One of the areas in which this bias must be rooted out are the refugee and asylum programs of the United States, many other Western countries, and that of the United Nations.”
In response to The Christian Post’s reporting that a group of nearly two dozen Afghan Christians attending the Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, North Carolina, were informed last month that they had a week to leave the country, the Rev. Franklin Graham of the Evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse insisted that he was not “aware of any Afghan Christians that have been deported at this point, and I know this is being discussed in Washington at the highest levels.”
Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is an influential voice in American Evangelical politics who has a strong relationship with Trump. Samaritan’s Purse had helped connect hundreds of Afghans who resettled in the U.S. with churches that can support their needs. 
“I spoke with Senator Lindsey Graham about it, and I know that other leaders are discussing the issue with the President. I have been told that the deadline has been pushed back in order for cases to be reviewed. We believe this will be resolved, and I appreciate the efforts to try and help Afghan Christians,” he told CP.
In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to comment about any specific cases while explaining that “CBP has issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain.” The agency stressed that “This process is not limited to CBP One users and does not currently apply to those paroled under programs such as [Uniting for Ukraine] and [Operation Allies Welcome.]”
Since last month, members of the Church of the Apostles in Raleigh have been urging the Trump administration not to deport Christian refugees from Afghanistan after they were ordered to leave the U.S. within days before their asylum claims were heard by a judge. 
Some of the refugees in question have previously “experienced torture [in Afghanistan] for no crime other than conversion,” according to Julie Tisdale, a seminary student who attends Church of the Apostles.
“Their journeys to the United States were harrowing, long and complicated, but they all entered the U.S. legally,” Tisdale wrote in an op-ed for The Christian Post. “That is not actually an easy thing to do. Immigration authorities interview individuals to assess whether they face a credible fear of persecution and torture in their home countries.”

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
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