President and \u200cCEO of Samaritan\u2019s \u200bPurse Rev. Franklin Graham told \u2062Newsmax in May 2023<\/a> that despite his \u200borganization\u2019s \u200bprominent presence in Latin American countries, \u2063\u201cWe\u2019re not aiding illegal immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are feeding\u200b people down there. \u200cWe\u2019re \u200dnot helping people cross the border,\u201d Graham, the son \u2062of the late evangelist Billy Graham, insisted. <\/p>\n

While programs offering food and financial resources to the caravans snaking through Central \u200bAmerica seem humane\u200b on the surface, they actually incentivize \u200cmore migrants to pay the cartel smuggling fees so\u200b they can\u2063 make the trip north. \u200dWell-intentioned \u2064Christian charities are using \u2062American \u2063taxpayer money\u2063 to \u200dassist migrants \u200bon \u2063their journey through Central America, undoubtedly fueling the surge\u2063 of human trafficking\u200c across \u2063borders from \u2064South America into Mexico and \u200dthe\u2062 U.S. <\/p>\n

Catholic groups\u2019 work<\/a> subsidizing migrant treks to the \u200bU.S. is widely known and has\u2063 even been\u2064 scrutinized<\/a> by members of Congress. But\u200c popular evangelical groups like Samaritan\u2019s\u2063 Purse and World Relief also use American tax \u2062dollars \u200dthey \u200creceive \u200dfrom grants to make migrants\u2019 \u200dtravel to\u2062 the deadliest land migration route<\/a> easier. <\/p>\n

Samaritan\u2019s\u2063 Purse\u2019s mission to \u201cGo and do likewise,\u201d as Jesus commanded in the\u200c parable \u200cof the Good Samaritan, led to the \u2064creation \u200cof dozens of international aid\u200b programs\u200b including \u200b Operation\u200d Christmas\u2064 Child<\/a> \u200dand World \u2062Medical Mission<\/a>. For its work, Samaritan\u2019s Purse has\u200c received millions of American dollars<\/a> from government grants, including from the United\u200d States Agency for International Development (USAID). Approximately \u2064 $718,513<\/a> of the money \u200cSamaritan\u2019s\u200c Purse garnered from government grants and donations has gone to the\u200b UN\u2019s Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for \u2062Refugees\u200c and Migrants from Venezuela\u200b (R4V). <\/p>\n

Samaritan\u2019s Purse may not be physically escorting hundreds \u2062of thousands of \u2064migrants across the \u2063U.S. border, but its partnership with R4V guarantees it is financially involved with a \u2063program that openly\u2063 incentivizes migrants\u2019 journeys to the \u200dU.S., \u2064no\u2063 matter how illegal it\u200b may be. \u2062 <\/p>\n

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On its face, \u200dR4V\u200c appears to offer basic aid to people leaving\u2062 politically unstable and impoverished Latin American countries. A deeper dive\u200d into the group\u2019s \u20622024\u200c Regional Refugee and Migrant Response \u200dPlan<\/a>, \u200chowever, reveals a complicated scheme to\u2063 load the many migrants<\/a> pouring into the U.S. \u200cwith taxpayer-funded \u201cpre-paid, rechargeable debit cards but also hard \u2018cash in envelopes,\u2019 bank transfers, and mobile transfers\u200c the U.S. \u200dborder-bound \u200btravelers can use for whatever they want,\u201d\u2062 as Center \u2064for Immigration Studies\u2019 Senior National Security Fellow \u200cTodd\u200d Bensman reported<\/a> in January. Encouraged and energized by the cash\u2062 aid, these migrants continue to\u200b the U.S. where already overwhelmed<\/a> border agents will likely release<\/a> them\u00a0into the U.S. with \u2064 little accountability.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bensman\u200c also noted<\/a> that migrants from Venezuela\u200c with intent to cross the American \u200cborder illegally aren\u2019t the only ones who receive cash \u2064payouts. The UN and its\u200c close to 250 non-governmental\u2062 partners, many of them religious organizations, award $372 \u2062million cash aid to \u200dhundreds of thousands of \u201cmultiple other\u200c nationalities\u201d<\/a> whose migration patterns \u201cincreasingly overlapped \u2063with and \u2063occurred simultaneously in time and place\u201d as those from Venezuela.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe only expression of \u200capparent concern about supporting people \u200bclearly intending to break US law shows up\u200c on a page depicting a map with the thin red line of a migration \u200droute leading to the US border at about El Paso,\u201d\u2063 Bensman wrote.\u200d \u201cSomeone took \u200cthe\u200c trouble to add a footnote on that page noting that the map \u2018does not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the UN.\u2019 Despite no \u2018official endorsement,\u2019 the UN \u200cis\u2063 spending big to\u2063 encourage such a journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Federalist asked Samaritan\u2019s Purse if it was aware its financial partnership<\/a> with R4V \u2062benefits\u200b more than just Venezuelans and supports other migrants\u2019 goal of crossing the U.S. border \u200cillegally.\u2063 The organization\u2019s Director of Marketing and Media Kaitlyn Josten claimed Samaritan\u2019s Purse \u201cdoes\u200d not support \u2062illegal migration\u201d and\u200b that\u2063 its Multipurpose Cash Assistance program is\u200d \u201cstrictly\u200d directed towards Venezuelan migrants who are legally entering Colombia or Colombian returnees who have\u200c made the decision \u2064to establish themselves permanently in\u200d Colombia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo funds are used for cross migration purposes,\u201d she wrote. \u201cSamaritan\u2019s Purse is\u2062 deeply\u200b concerned about human trafficking and sexual violence, and we are\u2064 very\u2062 aware of the humanitarian\u2064 crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow the Money<\/h2>\n
The \u200cNorth Carolina-based nonprofit isn\u2019t the only Christian \u2064evangelical organization \u2062that\u2063 is aiding and \u200cabetting the chaos<\/a>, crime<\/a>, and \u2063 death<\/a> \u200dstemming from the \u200bsouthern border by invigorating illegal migration. Dozens of faith-based<\/a> profits across Jewish,\u200d Lutheran, Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, and other sects have involved themselves in programs that inflame the\u200d record-breaking number<\/a> of migrants \u2063flooding \u2064the U.S.<\/p>\n
World Relief, a non-governmental organization with the mission \u201cto\u200c empower\u200b the \u200clocal church to serve the most vulnerable,\u201d is one of several voluntary \u200cagencies \u200c(VOLAGs) \u200cthat receive American tax dollars to resettle refugees. <\/p>\n
\u201cVOLAGs are strictly prohibited\u2063 by\u2063 regulation\u2064 from any form of\u200c proselytization\u2062 to\u200b refugees. In \u2062reality, they are simply \u200cgovernment contractors paid handsomely\u2064 for their services,\u201d a Capital\u200d Research Center article<\/a> noted\u200b in 2018. \u2064 <\/p>\n
Yet World Relief has raked in millions of U.S. tax dollars<\/a> to date and is slated to receive more\u2063 over the next two\u2064 years while fundraising off of sharing \u201cthe example\u2064 of Jesus\u201d<\/a> to\u200d the globe.\u200c <\/p>\n
When \u2063Title 42 expired last year, \u200bWorld Relief issued a statement<\/a> \u2062 emphasizing that \u201cThoughtful policy solutions are needed\u2064 that respect\u200c our laws, ensuring both secure \u200cborders and <\/em>due process for those who profess a\u200c credible fear of persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n
World Relief VP of Advocacy\u200c and Policy Matthew Soerens recently claimed that World Relief wants \u201cbipartisan solutions to improve border security, \u2064to provide more resources to the Border Patrol and others to ensure \u2026 their security\u201d but\u200b rejected classifying the ongoing border \u200ccrisis\u2063 as an \u2062invasion \u2063with, as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said<\/a>, \u2062\u201ccatastrophic consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want us to be really careful, those of us who are followers of Jesus, not\u200b to fall for \u2062that rhetoric,\u201d Soerens said in a dispatch from El Paso last week. \u201cIt \u2063is not a dangerous situation\u201d \u200cbecause \u201cit\u2019s not a military conquest,\u201d he\u2064 said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not \u2064people \u200ccoming in trying to harm the United States,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
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At the \u2062border \u2064in El Paso today, after visiting McAllen, Texas yesterday, and\u2063 I\u2062 thought\u2062 I\u2019d share\u200c some \u200cthoughts \u200don the state of congressional negotiations & the recent declaration here in \u200bTexas \u2062of an \u201cinvasion\u201d<\/p>\n
I also wrote\u200b on\u200d this for @CTmagazine<\/a> in 2022 https:\/\/t.co\/TipG0dxhLh<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/RKOHv739XB<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014\u200c Matthew \u200cSoerens (@MatthewSoerens) January 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n