The Dominance of Christian Charities in US Refugee Resettlement

“Do you believe in a God?” This is one of the first questions that was asked of me in 2021 when I was offered a job at a Christian refugee resettlement agency. Once hired, I was required to sign a statement of faith, which is written as the Apostle’s Creed. If this is required for employees, what do they require of refugees who do not have the same faith in the same beliefs or people who are escaping because they are in the LGBTQ+ community and/or have had trauma because of religion? During my time as an unaccompanied minor refugee case manager, I was required to ask my clients if they were attending church as part of their cultural engagement. Instead of being able to ask them if they were participating in their culture’s practices, traditions, or customs – the first thing the organization wanted to address was if they were attending church. It was one of the questions that was highlighted for case managers to ask and many times made the clients clearly uncomfortable. So instead, I would ask if more generically, they attended any cultural gatherings, to avoid any discomfort they may have with religion.  The majority of refugee resettlement agencies are faith-based organisations and out of the top five resettlement agencies four are religious organisations and three are Christian organisations. While the US Government does not allow the resettlement agencies to spend government dollars on religious activities – these Christian charities still find ways to get away with it by incorporating religion and their specific beliefs in their organisational activities – i.e praying before meetings and events or asking unaccompanied minors if they attend church. Instead, the government should focus more of its efforts on supporting Ethnic Community-Based Organisations (ECBO) which would eliminate the evangelisation that faith-based organisations commit. Ethnic Community-Based Organisations (ECBOs) are community-based organisations comprised primarily of refugees, for the specific purpose of assisting other refugees.

Government failure has resulted in the outsourcing of essential refugee resettlement to Christian charities. Christianity is woven into the fabric of the United States of America. It has provided agency and reason for how this government runs, and the idea of separation of Church and State is under question in practice. Christianity runs in the bloodstream of the United States and yet, we live in this idea of a power dichotomy between religion and government.

 The topic of refugees coming into the United States is always talked about during elections and a politician’s stance on migration has been highlighted as one of the main issues that they want to stand firm on. The dialogue of refugees coming into this country is heinously talked about in the realm of politics. As Right-Wing political commentator Tomi Lahren stated, “They will never have refugees or rapeugees in their back yard,”.. She continued, ”I don’t think they’re going to pump refugees into Beverly Hills”. Or as Donald Trump stated, “Who knows who they are – some could be ISIS” “poisoning the blood of our country?”. And Congresswoman Lauren Boebert referring to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar as “the Jihad Squad”. These are just a few of the many statements said by political leaders and commentators in this country. Refugees have to go through such an intense screening which is done by the Department of Homeland Security and USCIS. The scrutiny that refugees have to deal with is uncalled for as they are some of the most highly screened individuals that come into this country. The rhetoric that refugees are criminals is a baseless fear. Statistics show that the presence of refugees more often than not results in a decrease in crime in the community after arrival.

 The U.S. government has created rules and guidelines for the first 30 days of refugee resettlement which include obtaining the refugees’ housing, explaining the healthcare system, and assisting with jobs and attending school. All the responsibility for this is left in the hands of the case managers, who are understaffed and overworked with limited resources. With that, the Department of State provides a one-time payment of $2,375 per individual refugee to the local resettlement affiliates, of which $1,275 is available for agencies to use to fund the critical direct assistance needs of refugees, such as rent, food, clothing, and furnishings. Because of limited resources, the organisations have been reduced significantly and refugees are left with no direction so ECBOs usually have to make up for it with little to no government funding. The government leaves faith-based organisations to do all of the work with very few guidelines which allow them to do what they please with the money that they are given. Christian organisations weave their beliefs into the refugee resettlement process by selecting specific Christians to be host families which leads them to their original goals of evangelisation or may not house LGBTQ+ unaccompanied minors because of their own selective worldview. This leaves refugees with this feeling of forced assimilation into religion and belief that is not their own. When they engage with faith-based organisations, they are not given their full rights as refugees and many times left confused and desperate to get the help that they need.

The government’s lack of administrative control in this matter makes it necessary to utilise ECBOs to assist with resettlement, ultimately reducing the traumatising response from faith-based organisations. ECBOs such as the Ethiopian Community Development Council, which is the first and only African-founded resettlement agency in the United States, provide more cultural growth within the communities as they advocate for refugee rights. They focus on helping refugees with the services that faith-based organisations lack. If ECBOs were the majority of refugee resettlement agencies the persecution and fear that refugees have with religion would be removed from the lives of many.

To put it simply, refugees have rights. This is not up for debate. While they are living in the United States it is essential for them to live a safe, prosperous life without fear of persecution, especially from religion. ECBOs could provide safe passageways for refugees to fully express themselves, without the compounding pressure of Christian religiosity. Saviour complex has no place in this field. We must meet people where they are.  In a nation founded on the constitutionally enshrined principle of freedom of religion, it is imperative that secular resettlement organizations are positioned at the forefront of US refugee policy.