Christians fleeing religious persecution are facing major changes to the pathways for seeking safety in the United States, according to a new report from World Relief and Open Doors US.
The organisations found that fiscal year 2026 is on track to become the first year on record in which no refugees from the 50 countries identified by Open Doors as facing the most severe persecution of Christians were resettled in the United States. Their report, released on 3 September, said the finding came as millions of Christians worldwide continue to experience persecution and discrimination.
Open Doors' 2026 World Watch List records 4,849 Christians killed because of their faith during its reporting period. It also reports that 224,129 Christians were forced from their homes, went into hiding within their own countries or left their countries because of violent persecution.
The World Relief and Open Doors report said the US refugee resettlement programme had effectively been closed to traditional refugee populations during fiscal year 2026, with limited exceptions. In May, the administration increased the year's overall refugee admissions ceiling to 17,500, but the additional admissions were designated for South Africans rather than people from the countries most affected by Christian persecution.
The organisations said available admissions data showed that none of the refugees admitted through the programme during the year were persecuted Christians from Open Doors' top 50 countries of concern. They said this marked a significant change from previous years, when thousands of Christian refugees from those countries were resettled in the US.
Refugee resettlement and asylum are separate immigration pathways. Refugees normally undergo processing outside the United States before being admitted, while people who are already in the country or seek protection at a port of entry may apply for asylum.
The asylum process is also undergoing changes. On 28 July, the Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final rule allowing US Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers, in certain cases, to refer affirmative asylum applications directly to immigration court without first conducting an asylum interview.
The rule allows such referrals where the application and other available evidence indicate that a case may be subject to certain legal bars or otherwise ineligible for asylum. USCIS said the change is intended to address a large backlog of affirmative asylum applications, which exceeded 1.4 million cases at the end of fiscal year 2025.
The new procedure does not remove an asylum seeker's opportunity to have the case considered by an immigration court. Instead, some cases may move from USCIS to the court system without the preliminary asylum interview.
For Christians fleeing religious persecution, the circumstances of each case can vary widely. Claims may involve arrests, threats, family pressure, religious conversion, imprisonment, violence or discrimination. In some cases, applicants may have limited documentary evidence because the authorities responsible for keeping official records may also be involved in the alleged persecution.
World Relief and Open Doors said the changes should be considered against the wider situation facing Christians globally. Their 2026 report says 388 million Christians are experiencing high levels of persecution or discrimination because of their faith, while Open Doors recorded more than 224,000 Christians displaced or forced into hiding during its latest reporting period.
Based on reporting by ICC.
