"Just over two weeks ago, the federal government informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees," Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe said in a Monday letter.
The Episcopal Church has halted a refugee resettlement program with the federal government over the prioritization of white South Africans while other populations see their immigration protections removed.
"Just over two weeks ago, the federal government informed Episcopal Migration Ministries that under the terms of our federal grant, we are expected to resettle white Afrikaners from South Africa whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees," Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe said in a Monday letter.
"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. 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," Rowe added.
The State Department announced that the first group of white South Africans entered the U.S. on Monday.
Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce asserted in a statement that the group was at risk and faced unjust racial discrimination in South Africa, saying taking them in was a move to safeguard victims of racial discrimination.