Will Congress sacrifice the persecuted church on the altar of border security?

A few years ago, many of my evangelical friends began changing their social media profile photos to the Arabic symbol for the letter “N,” the symbol that ISIS reportedly was using to mark and threaten the homes of “Nazarene” Christians. It quickly became a global sign of solidarity with persecuted Christians around the world.

Christians, including American evangelicals, have long been committed to standing with both the persecuted church and people of other faiths around the world who face persecution and even martyrdom for their religion. That’s why evangelicals and others committed to religious freedom should be deeply unsettled by H.R. 29, a bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives. This bill essentially would slam the door in the faces of persecuted Christians and others persecuted for their faith.

The bill purports to be a “border safety and security” bill. However, the likely effect would be to shut down asylum requests from those who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without a visa, even those who report to a lawful port of entry instead of attempting an illegal crossing. Although the language of the bill is somewhat ambiguous, some analysts believe it would prohibit any asylum requests at the border unless an impossible standard is met of 100 percent detention or expulsion of asylum seekers.

This policy could harm persecuted Christians. Consider the case of Douglas Oviedo, an evangelical youth pastor in Honduras who drew young people to Jesus and away from gangs and urged the government to install cameras to increase security in his gang-ridden neighborhood. He was so good at his job that the gangs began to threaten his life. Ultimately, he decided to flee and made the long trip to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018. 

Oviedo never attempted to cross the border unlawfully. After reporting to the port of entry, he was required to wait nearly a year in Mexico until he was granted asylum. As part of this process, he demonstrated to the satisfaction of a U.S. immigration judge that he faced a credible fear of persecution because of his religion. Oviedo now lives lawfully in Texas — but he may have been ineligible if the bill under consideration had been in effect.

And it’s not only those from the Western Hemisphere who flee religious persecution and seek the refuge offered by U.S. law. Last year, as the ministry China Aid relates, Dong Zhao and his family sought asylum at the border after fleeing the religious persecution of the Chinese government and making a treacherous journey through 11 countries. Just this month, Olga Ponomareva, a Jehovah’s Witness who fled Russia after the country banned the religion, was granted asylum after entering from Mexico. 

If H.R. 29 were already law when these various individuals had arrived, they likely would have been turned away, as would those fleeing persecution on other grounds, such as the more than 22,000 Ukrainians who have sought refuge at the U.S.-Mexico border since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This is not the first time that efforts to restrict access to asylum and reduce refugee resettlement have put — to quote the National Association of Evangelicals’ Galen Carey — “our proud tradition as a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution … at grave risk.” 

A 2020 study from World Relief and Open Doors USA found that the number of Christian refugees resettled to the U.S. from the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution globally had declined by roughly 90 percent between 2015 and 2020. There were similar or even more stark declines for those of other severely persecuted religious minority groups such as Yezidis, Muslim Rohingya and Iranian Jews.

It’s true that evangelicals want secure borders, but a recent LifeWay Research study finds that roughly three-quarters also believe our country has a moral responsibility to accept refugees fleeing religious persecution. And more than one-third of evangelicals have been involved in a ministry serving refugees or other immigrants — including many through World Relief, the ministry I lead.

Twenty years ago, when I began my career working on Capitol Hill for a couple of Republican Congress members, most Republicans were clear on the importance of border security to stop illegal immigration. However, they were also committed to legal immigration processes, including asylum and refugee resettlement processes for those who had fled a credible fear of persecution. 

This issue is personal to many evangelicals, and we do not want our elected officials to sacrifice the persecuted church on the altar of border security. The United States should stand with those persecuted for their faith — and that means voting against H.R. 29.

Myal Greene is the president and CEO of World Relief, an Evangelical Christian humanitarian nongovernmental organization and leading refugee resettlement agency.