People of Faith Urge Trump to Admit More Refugees

(RNS) — With a decision looming on how many refugees to admit into the country, and rumors swirling that the number could drop dramatically from this year’s historic low, people of faith are coming together to ask the Trump administration to instead allow tens of thousands more to enter the United States.

Representatives of some of the largest Protestant denominations in the country — including the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Episcopal Church — were planning to gather outside the White House on Wednesday (Sept. 12) to press President Trump to raise the number of refugees admitted in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 to 75,000 people.

And the Evangelical Immigration Table — a coalition that includes the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s single largest Protestant denomination — hosted a call demanding the same.

“I just believe the church has abundant resources, America has abundant resources, to welcome refugees to enjoy security and liberty and friendship — the friendship that Christians in America and Americans have to offer those who are most vulnerable in the world,” said Patrick Vaughn, assistant pastor of Christ Church East Bay in Oakland, Calif., who was one of the participants in the call.

For…