Trump condemns religious persecution amid refugee squeeze

NEW YORK >> President Donald Trump said at the United Nations this week that “protecting religious freedom is one of my highest priorities.” But his promise rings hollow to advocates for persecuted religious minorities seeking refuge in the United States.

Trump’s administration already has slashed the nation’s refugee admissions ceiling to a historic low and on Thursday proposed a further cut for next year, to 18,000 — an 84% drop from the cap proposed during the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency.

The president’s promotion of global freedom to worship prompted the State Department to set aside 5,000 refugee slots for religious minorities. But faithbased groups that resettle refugees had urged him to avoid more erosion of a program dedicated to helping the persecuted worshippers whose oppression Trump has decried.

The list of persecuted religious groups whose access to refugee admission has withered under Trump includes Christians in Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Myanmar and Sudan, as well as Iraqi Christians and Yazidis — whose mass slaughter and enslavement by the Islamic State was labeled “genocide “by Trump’s State Department in 2017.

Trump did not mention his looming decision on next year’s refugee ceiling as he announced $25 million in new funding for safeguarding religious freedom, including religious sites and artifacts, at a Monday event at the U.N. On Thursday, however, his State Department pitched a set-aside for religious minorities designed to bolster the administration’s commitment to freedom for all faiths.

“Compared to previous years, where we had broad allocations for regions that did not prioritize protections of beliefs ... this is a particular improvement by having a specific allocation,” said a senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

While the administration portrayed its move as bringing a better resettlement outlook for refugees fleeing religious persecution, faithbased organizations had held out hope that the program would see no further cuts beyond this year’s ceiling of 30,000. During the final full year of the Obama administration, the refugee ceiling was 85,000.

“For the United States to cut refugee resettlement to half of what it was last year is an abrogation of who we are and all that we stand for as a nation,” said Bishop Michael Rinehart, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service Chairman of the Board. “This decision means that thousands of people, including those fleeing violence and war, and those fleeing religious persecution, will continue to be left in harm’s way.”

Prior to the announcement, Free Yezidi Foundation executive director Pari Ibrahim, whose nonprofit group helps raise awareness about Yazidi persecution, said she was invited to attend Trump’s speech this week and that she is “happy the U.S. government is trying to put this on the agenda.” Still, Ibrahim pointed to the stark contrast between the administration’s talk about helping members of her denomination and its “ridiculous” cuts to refugee admissions of Iraqi Yazidis: from 434 in fiscal year 2017, the last year the Obama administration played a role in refugee admissions, to just 5 in fiscal year 2018. Twenty Iraqi Yazidis gained access to the refugee program in the fiscal year that ends this week, according to an Associated Press analysis of State Department data.

“The genocide is still ongoing, and you wonder to yourself, is it all just talk,” Ibrahim said, adding that Yazidis “need to get a second chance in their freedom in their right to believe whatever they want to believe.”

The Trump administration views its investment in international religious freedom as separate from and not contradictory to its restrictive refugee policy, as explained by a State Department official who addressed the issue on condition of anonymity.

“Prioritizing security here at home is not at odds with our advancement of religious freedom abroad,” the official said.

The State Department official declined to discuss the decision-making process regarding next year’s refugee ceiling, which involves input from the Pentagon and other agencies, but added that the administration would seek to assist refugees “as close to their home countries as possible.”