Free Republic

THE effects of President Donald Trump’s orders halting the United States’ refugee-assistance and overseas-aid programmes are already being felt, as charities lay off staff and slash support services. Episcopal Migration Ministries, an arm of the Episcopal Church in the US, which had a contract with the US government to help to settle refugees, is making 22 staff redundant after the new President’s first-day executive order halting the country’s refugee-resettlement programme. The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Dr Sean Rowe, announced the “painful” decision. Writing to church leaders, he said: “These departing employees have every reason to be angry, frustrated...

When Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde lectured President Trump and Vice President Vance about immigration during her sermon at the National Prayer Service on the day after they were inaugurated, leftists hailed Budde for standing on principle and giving the Bad Orange Man a good scolding. As it turns out, however, Budde may have motivations that were a bit more tangible than principle: her church’s Episcopal Migration Ministry (EMM) rakes in millions from a number of taxpayer-funded entities for bringing the migrants. And the Episcopal Church is by no means alone in this: other churches that have recently taken principled stances...