The United States is on track to resettle no Christian refugees fleeing religious persecution in 2026, according to a new report that warns America’s historic “golden door” for the persecuted has effectively slammed shut under current policy.

Open Doors and World Relief released their joint report at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, revealing that for the first time in at least a quarter-century, the United States is poised to admit zero Christian refugees from the 50 countries listed on the 2026 Open Doors World Watch List, nations where Christians face extreme persecution. The report’s authors, including World Relief CEO Myal Greene and Open Doors CEO Ryan Brown, said the drop to zero signals a dramatic reversal in U.S. policy toward the world’s most vulnerable believers.

The groups’ analysis found that only three refugees were resettled from any of the World Watch List countries in fiscal year 2026, and none were religious minorities. The report concluded, “We can conclude with a high degree of confidence that in FY2026, no refugees experiencing religious persecution will be resettled in the U.S.” The asylum approval rate for those same countries also plummeted from 58% in 2023 to just 10% in 2026, highlighting a broad clampdown on protection for persecuted Christians.

“The U.S. has essentially taken this golden door and closed it,” Greene said, describing a system once known for providing safe haven to the oppressed that now leaves them with nowhere to turn. Brown outlined the scope of the crisis: “the breadth of persecution” and “the depth of persecution” against Christians have only deepened, with Open Doors estimating that 388 million Christians, one in seven worldwide, face persecution across the globe.

Brown pointed to new threats like “digital surveillance” and a “continued surge in the ways that violence is characterizing the ways that persecution is being experienced by Christians on the ground,” especially in sub-Saharan Africa and China, where he said “the church is being monitored and technology is being used as a tool to create harm and displacement.”

Trump policy shift prioritized border crackdown over religious refugees

The dramatic shift in refugee admissions follows a series of executive actions by President Trump after his 2024 reelection, as described in the Christian Post report. In January 2025, Trump issued an executive order halting all refugee resettlement and directed federal officers to prioritize removing noncitizens, including those seeking asylum, at or between ports of entry. The administration has described the situation at the southern border as an “invasion,” and the new report criticized this framing, arguing it has led to blanket policy at the expense of those fleeing for their lives due to their Christian faith.

While the administration has allowed some refugee admissions, such as white South Africans described as “victims of unjust racial discrimination”, the report found that persecuted Christians from the world’s hardest-hit regions have not received similar consideration. The United States is scheduled to decide its refugee admissions cap for fiscal year 2027 in the coming weeks, but Greene said it is “optimistic to expect a significant reversal of the policy.”

The report’s stark findings come amid broader debates over Trump administration executive orders and their far-reaching impacts, paralleling earlier conflicts such as the legal battle over Trump’s mail-in voting executive order and the rapid implementation of new federal directives, as seen when Google Maps adopted the “Lake America” label after White House action.

Advocates urge separation of refugee protection from border politics

Brown, Greene, and World Relief Vice President of Advocacy and Policy Matthew Soerens called for policymakers, and especially Christians, to distinguish between border enforcement and the distinct needs of those fleeing religious persecution. Brown said, “One of the things that has become confused in the discourse and the dialogue, especially with Christians, is these issues of border security, these issues of... folks fleeing for economic reasons or those types of opportunities that the U.S. seems to uniquely afford them. That’s not what this report’s talking about.” He stressed that the report focuses on “those individuals that have a reasonable fear for their life and their safety because of their Christian faith and identity.”

Brown acknowledged that many Americans fear any opening for refugees would “overflow” the system, but argued, “That is traditionally not the case.” He described those seeking refuge as “a relatively small number of people” who “truly have no other options.” Still, Brown said, “these are thousands of cases,” even as Open Doors estimates the global number of persecuted Christians in the millions.

Soerens recalled that in 2019, during Trump’s first term, “individuals who are fleeing religious persecution [were] a priority within the refugee determination.” Now, however, advocates say the administration’s focus on border security has overwhelmed any effort to provide sanctuary for the faithful under threat.

Greene said advocates remain committed to pressing for change: “That said, we’re people of faith, and we’re committed to being faithful in our advocacy and being consistent in bringing these causes to light. We wouldn’t be issuing this report if we didn’t believe that there are Christians and people close to the administration who have a deep desire to see these policy changes and what that entails.”

The world’s persecuted Christians left with nowhere to turn

With the U.S. scheduled to set its 2027 refugee cap soon, the near-total shutdown for persecuted Christians marks a sharp break with historic American practice. The report’s release at the Capitol Visitor Center put a spotlight on the millions facing violence and surveillance abroad, and on the moral questions facing lawmakers and faith communities at home.

These questions are playing out even as Trump’s administration faces coordinated legal and political resistance. As previously reported, Democratic attorneys general have formed secret pacts to sue Trump, and whistleblowers have alleged that officials deliberately targeted him and his allies, as detailed in internal state investigations. The fate of persecuted Christians seeking refuge now sits amid this climate of partisan battle and executive action.

As the debate over borders and asylum continues, the facts remain: persecuted Christians are being left behind, and those with the power to open the door have chosen to keep it closed.