Episcopal Church ends partnership with US gov’t over white Afrikaners resettlement dispute

 By Michael Gryboski, Editor

THE CHRISTIAN POST

May 12, 2025

The Episcopal Church will terminate its partnership to resettle refugees with the U.S. government over a request to resettle a group of white Afrikaners after the administration had effectively halted the U.S. refugee program.

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe released a letter on Monday regarding Episcopal Migration Ministries, which oversees the denomination's refugee resettlement programs.

Rowe said the Trump administration had informed them a couple of weeks ago that, per the terms of their federal grant, they were expected to help resettle some white Afrikaners from South Africa who had been labeled as refugees under a February executive order that accused South African government of seizing white landowners agricultural properties without compensation. Afrikaners are a people group that descended mostly from Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s.

The move comes after President Donald Trump suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program shortly after taking office in January, leaving tens of thousands of asylum seekers approved for resettlement in limbo.

"In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," wrote Rowe.

"Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government."

The presiding bishop took issue with a "group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner," getting "preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years."

"I am saddened and ashamed that many of the refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country," Rowe continued.

"Now that we are ending our involvement in federally funded refugee resettlement, we have asked the administration to work toward a mutual agreement that will allow us to wind down all federally funded services by the end of the federal fiscal year in September."

Shortly after Trump began his second term, EMM announced that it would cut 22 staff members and wind down its refugee resettlement programs due to the president issuing an executive order suspending refugee resettlement.

Rowe stated in a letter that it was a "painful decision" for the EMM to enact such cuts and that the entity "will retain a small team to manage the wind down of EMM's federal grant-sponsored programs."

Last week, it was reported that the Trump administration was planning to resettle small numbers of white South Africans in the United States, claiming that the black-led South African government is engaging in anti-white policies.

"What's happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created," White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said to reporters, as quoted by The Associated Press.

"This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race. This is race-based persecution."

Church World Service, an international Christian humanitarian organization, has also expressed concern over the administration's decision to prioritize the white Afrikaners over other refugee groups.

"By resettling this population, the Government is demonstrating that it still has the capacity to quickly screen, process, and depart refugees to the United States," said CWS President and CEO Rick Santos in a statement last week.

"It's time for the Administration to honor our nation's commitment to the thousands of refugee families it abandoned with its cruel and illegal executive order."

END