For Immediate Release         
Contact: Dan Gordon, 617-651-0841 
April 15, 2021 

Evangelical Christians to Biden: Welcome Refugees Now

Washington, D.C. — Pressure on President Biden to follow through and raise the refugee resettlement ceiling is increasing — including from evangelical Christian women.

In a new op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Sheila Joiner, a conservative Christian in Fort Worth, Texas, urges Biden to keep his campaign promise and raise the refugee admissions ceiling, joining thousands of other Christians who are urging Biden to act immediately.

Joiner writes that she cast her ballot for Biden in 2020 based on his commitment to restoring the refugee resettlement program after admissions reached historic lows under President Trump. But with the administration yet to make good on its promise, Joiner is questioning her choice.

"The refugee resettlement program remains in tatters," she writes. "Under the historically low refugee admissions ceiling set by President Trump last fall, the country is on track to admit fewer refugees than ever. I’m beginning to feel I was duped.

" … Some speculate that the humanitarian crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border has made Mr. Biden hesitate. But he knows that refugee resettlement — which brings people identified and vetted abroad to America on airplanes — is separate from the process for asylum seekers who make their own way to the U.S. border to request protection."

Joiner also points to a petition now signed by about 3,800 evangelical Christian women urging Biden to honor his commitment and raise the refugee admissions ceiling, calling for the president "to restore dignity and humanity and make the United States a welcoming country once again."

"There is no reasonable explanation why the president has not raised the refugee ceiling," said Ali Noorani, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. "With one signature he can extend the welcoming hand so many are calling for — not to mention improve our security and begin to restore our nation’s standing as a humanitarian leader."   

Read the full text of Joiner’s op-ed here.

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