Episcopal Church ends decades-long agreement with US over 'illegal' Trump policy

12 May

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

One of President Donald Trump's latest policies has prompted one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States to walk away entirely from a 40 year-long partnership with the government.

Religion News Service reported Monday that the Episcopal Church will no longer help the U.S. government resettle refugees after the Trump administration announced its plans to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa in the United States. The Most Reverend Sean W. Rowe, who is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, said the resettlement proposal forced his church to draw what RNS called a "moral line" in the sand at working with the administration moving forward.

“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,” Rowe wrote. “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.”

Currently, there are multiple groups suing the Trump administration over its refugee resettlement policies, including four faith-based groups. The plaintiffs are petitioning courts to reinstate plans to place refugees fleeing persecution — including Christian refugees — in safe communities throughout the U.S. after Trump issued an executive order abruptly halting prior resettlement agreements. One of those plaintiffs is Church World Service, which argued that the White Afrikaner proposal shows the administration has the capacity to screen and place refugees, but is instead only doing so for specific groups.

"We are concerned that the U.S. Government has chosen to fast-track the admission of Afrikaners, while actively fighting court orders to provide life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations who are in desperate need of resettlement," Church World Service head Rick Santos said.

"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," Santos added, "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."

Click here to read RNS' full report.

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