Members of a North Carolina church are urging the Trump administration not to deport nearly two dozen Christian refugees from Afghanistan after they were ordered to leave the United States within days before their asylum claims have been heard by a judge.
Julie Tisdale, a seminary student who attends Church of the Apostles in Raleigh, is among members of her church who have been speaking out on behalf of the Afghan Christians who were ordered to leave the country by a deadline that passed about a week ago.
“We’ve been advocating with members of Congress and senators,” she said in an interview with The Christian Post. “We’ve had some conversations with the staff who work on immigration issues in those offices. So in terms of advocacy, I would say that’s been the big thing as well as some media stuff.”
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In an op-ed published by The Christian Post last week, Tisdale lamented that Afghan Christians who attended her church had received emails informing them that they had seven days to leave the country. The refugees in question had arrived in the U.S. after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan led to the Taliban taking control of the country, putting Christians in the country at grave risk of prosecution and torture.
Tisdale said all of these individuals “were deemed to face such a credible fear and were granted documented, legal status to be in the country, to obtain work permits, to get driver licenses, to rent apartments — to do all the normal things they need to do to be self-supporting.”
“Their journeys to the United States were harrowing, long and complicated, but they all entered the U.S. legally,” she wrote. “That is not actually an easy thing to do. Immigration authorities interview individuals to assess whether they face a credible fear of persecution and torture in their home countries.”
The seminary student characterized her efforts as “trying to just spread the word and make sure that a broad base of people is aware of what’s going on.”
“Lots of people have written individual letters to their senators and congressmen as well, or made phone calls to their offices,” she said.
So far, Tisdale says they’ve received “two types of responses,” ranging from “automated responses that do not address the issue that we’re concerned about at all” to “meetings in person, phone calls, emails with members of staff who work specifically on immigration issues within those offices” that have yielded “meaningful engagement.”
‘Personal connections’
Tisdale said that a member of her church spent time in Afghanistan and knew “many of these people.”
“So it was through his personal connections that they first came to Apostles and began to connect with other members of the church,” she said. “So it’s all been very organic through personal relationships.”
Tisdale expressed gratitude that “nothing has happened” to the Afghan Christians even though nearly a week has passed since their deadline to leave the country.
“We are continuing to pursue all of these avenues to try to ensure that their legal picture and their legal status here remains clear. They have always been here legally. They’ve always followed all of the rules, and so, we are seeking clarification and assurances that legal status has not changed,” she said.
“And so beyond just our efforts to clarify the situation and make sure that they have the assurances and the documentation that they need … nothing has changed. We are raising money as well … to help with their legal expenses. So we will be contributing to that over the coming weeks, months, however long it takes for their asylum cases to be processed.”
Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the ensuing Taliban takeover, Afghanistan Christians have been among those who have resettled in the U.S., in addition to those who helped the U.S. military during the war. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security indicated it would not renew the Temporary Protected Status for thousands of Afghans in the country, with potential deportations that could begin in May. The Biden administration granted Temporary Protected Status to people fleeing Afghanistan in 2022.
CP made multiple requests for comment from the White House and various immigration agencies regarding the Afghans connected with Tisdale’s church. No direct comment was provided on those individuals. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged to CP that “CBP has issued notices terminating parole for individuals who do not have lawful status to remain.” The agency added, “This process is not limited to CBP One users and does not currently apply to those paroled under programs such as [Uniting for Ukraine] and [Operation Allies Welcome].”
Operation Allies Welcome, initiated in 2021, is a program for vulnerable Afghans who have resettled in the United States.
Afghanistan ranks as the 10th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors International’s World Watch List. Most Christians in Afghanistan are converts from Islam, which makes practicing their faith in public nearly impossible, the group says.
The Evangelical humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse helped connect hundreds of Afghans who have resettled in the U.S. with churches that can support their needs.
Rev. Franklin Graham, who heads Samaritan’s Purse and is the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, has also been in touch with leaders in Washington on the issue.
“I spoke with Sen. Lindsey Graham about it this week, and I know that other leaders in Washington are discussing this issue with the president,” he said in a statement to WORLD. “I have also been told that the deadline has been pushed back in order for cases to be reviewed. I appreciate the efforts to try and help Afghan Christians in this country.”
In a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expressed concern with the revocation of protections for Christians fleeing Afghanistan, calling for a 90-day pause.
“These refugees, many of whom have already applied for asylum and possess documentation of lawful parole, face a credible threat of imprisonment, torture, or death if returned to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,” Raffensperger wrote.
Tisdale said the refugees who attend her church have been meeting in her church building for a little over a year, saying they hold Bible study and worship in their native language.
“Those who have a better command of English also join us and worship with us,” she said.
“We’ve gotten to know them a little bit,” she added. “We have a number of people in our congregation who work with refugees in some capacity or are just interested and concerned, so it’s been a pretty natural fit for us.”
Identifying the 22 refugees as a mixture of families and individuals, she stressed that “they are entirely or, at the very least, primarily self-supporting.”
“Some of them I know have initial hearings as early as next month, but those are initial hearings, not final hearings,” she detailed, saying the system is “backed up.”
“I’m not sure that there is really a limit on how long this can take,” she continued. “They’re looking at long processes.”
Facing ‘certain’ death
Tisdale expressed certainty that if deported to Afghanistan, the refugees would be tortured and killed.
“And they know that’s certain because they have already experienced torture for no crime other than conversion,” she said. “I have heard those stories firsthand. I’ve heard the stories about the ways in which the authorities were made aware of their conversion and then promptly arrested them. They disappeared for days, weeks, possibly longer.”
“They suffered all sorts of torture while in prison, and so having endured that once, were they to be returned, there is no way that the Taliban would allow them to survive,” she predicted. “It would not be a quick death. It will be significant torture, and they will die.”
She praised the refugees who attend her church as “good, normal people who are Christian believers living quietly and peaceably.”
“They’re self-supporting. They just want to work and be given a chance to live a life free from fear,” she said. “They’re not asking for anything extraordinary. These are not people who have committed any kind of crime. They simply want to live and be able to exercise their faith.”
‘Do what is good’
Citing St. Paul’s instructions in Romans 13 to “do what is good” so as to “have no fear of the one who is in authority,” Tisdale said, “These Afghan Christians have been doing, and continue to do, what is good.”
“No one facing credible fear of persecution and torture in their home countries should, after fleeing to the United States, be forced to live in fear here,” she asserted.
“Refugees who are following Paul’s instruction to ‘aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one'” are “living in fear,” she said.
She believes the order for the Afghanistan Christians to leave the country runs afoul of American principles: “a country that invites the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
“At the very core of our identity are founding ideals of freedom, religious liberty and justice. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson writes that all men are endowed by God with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that governments are instituted among men for the purpose of securing these rights. That is what we are asking the U.S. government now to do,” she asserted. “These Afghan Christians ask for nothing more than the chance to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.”
Tisdale urged Christians to “pray for mercy, and write to your senators, representatives, and the White House” on behalf of the Christian refugees, adding, “Our best hope for helping our brothers and allies is to make our collective voices heard.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
