“In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice & reconciliation & our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step,” Rowe wrote. “Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our #refugee resettlement #grant agreements with the #US federal government.”
Rowe stressed that while Episcopal Migration Ministries will seek to “wind down all federally funded services by the end of the federal fiscal year in September,” the denomination will continue to support #immigrants & #refugees in other ways, such as offering #aid to refugees who have already been resettled.
The announcement came just as flights w/ #Afrikaners were scheduled to arrive…, the first batch of entries after #Trump declared via a February EO that the US would take in “#Afrikaners in #SouthAfrica who are *victims* of unjust racial discrimination.” The South African government has stridently denied allegations of systemic racial animus, as has a coalition of white religious leaders in the region that includes many Anglicans.