June 20th is  World Refugee Day, a day where we lift up those who have fled their home countries in the midst of horrendous conditions. Yet we must do more than just remember their plight. We must act for refugees, the stateless, and the displaced today. Those forced from their homes and rebuilding their lives in a new country should not then be met with more hardship.    

Leviticus 19:34 reminds us of our duty to care for refugees, saying, "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Time and again throughout the Bible we are called to love one another. Jesus even goes so far as to tell us how to love each other in Matthew 25:35, "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in."  

Turning away people in desperate need is not consistent with our faith. Nor is it right for our nation to fuel the very instability abroad that drives people to flee in the first place. The current budget reconciliation bill strips funding from SNAP and Medicaid for refugees while redirecting those resources toward detention and deportation efforts. Meanwhile, the administration has suspended the refugee resettlement program and canceled thousands of already-scheduled flights for people awaiting resettlement. 

Let this World Refugee Day serve as a renewal of our commitment to each other in our hardest times. Our actions speak volumes about our beliefs. If we are to call ourselves Christians, then we must back that up with the actions we take to feed, clothe, house, and share fellowship with refugees, while working towards a just and peaceful world for all. 

Urge the President to restart the refugee resettlement program and support the bipartisan U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE).