WASHINGTON — A Christian humanitarian organization has joined its voice with nearly 3,500 believers across the country in urging President Trump to make persecuted Christians a top priority in America's refugee policy. World Relief, which has served refugees and disaster victims in partnership with local churches since 1944, sent a letter to the president ahead of the annual Presidential Determination that sets the nation's refugee ceiling for Fiscal Year 2027.

The letter does not ask the president to adopt anyone else's approach, according to Matthew Soerens, World Relief's vice president of advocacy and policy. Instead, it calls on him to remain consistent with the priority his own first administration placed on international religious liberty. "As a matter of faith, the mandate is clear," Soerens said. "As a matter of patriotism, for a nation built by immigrants fleeing persecution on account of their faith, closing the door to this generation of refugees is unconscionable."

World Relief president and CEO Myal Greene called the coming decision a crossroads for the nation. He said America has the opportunity to right a serious moral wrong by once again opening its doors to refugees who have endured the worst suffering the world can offer — including Christians punished for the simple act of following Jesus.

The appeal is backed by broad conviction within the church. Surveys cited in the report found that more than 70 percent of Christians believe caring for refugees is a moral responsibility, and 87 percent of pastors agree that Christians fleeing persecution should be given priority in resettlement decisions.

A bipartisan group of ten U.S. senators has echoed the concern, urging the president to raise religious persecution — including the suffering of Christians in China — at the U.S.-China summit.

The backdrop for the plea is sobering. Since the modern American refugee system was created in 1980, the United States has admitted an average of about 73,500 refugees a year, with ceilings in some years reaching as high as 200,000. According to Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List, as many as 388 million Christians around the world now face severe levels of persecution and discrimination, with the danger most acute in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia.

In January 2025, the president signed an executive order suspending the U.S. refugee program and later set historically low admission limits, with a notable exception made for Afrikaners from South Africa.

On Oct. 1, following the petition, the White House released its official determination for Fiscal Year 2027. The document states that "the admission of up to 17,500 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year 2027 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest," and specifies that admissions will be "primarily allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa" under Executive Order 14204.

World Relief notes that while the letter is now closed to additional signatures, Christians across the country are encouraged to contact their members of Congress in the days before the determination takes effect and urge them to press for a historically consistent ceiling — one that prioritizes refugees fleeing religious persecution. Instructions for taking action are available at worldrelief.org/advocate.