Urge Congress
to Protect the Persecuted
Today, no refugees are being resettled through USRAP—the US Refugee Admissions Program. This ban impacts thousands of refugees who had already been fully processed, undergone extensive security checks, and approved for refugee status by the federal government while outside of the United States. This includes many persecuted Christians, as well as Afghans who had been approved for special immigrant visas because of the assistance they provided to the US mission and US servicemembers in Afghanistan.
The indefinite suspension of USRAP is the result of an executive order signed on January 20. The order requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to submit a report by April 20, regarding whether refugee resettlement is in the national interest. However, the order leaves the decision about whether to resume refugee resettlement to the President alone, without any timeline stated for that decision.
The chairman of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, addressed the suspension of USRAP on January 22, stating, “Indefinitely halting refugee resettlement is unmerited, as it is already proven to be one of the most secure legal pathways to the United States.”
Learn more about USRAP and the Catholic Church:
https://www.votervoice.net/USCCB/home
Ask your members of Congress to lift up their voice in support of upholding our nation’s bipartisan legacy of refugee resettlement.