Trump Administration betrays Iranian Christian refugees

[waves]

The United States’ rejection of the asylum applications of around 100 Iranian Christian refugees is an insult to the country’s Christian and humanitarian heritage.

The Christian refugees, many of whom can recount stories of the discrimination and persecution they have experienced at the hands of Iranian authorities, now have less than a week to leave Austria, where they have been stranded for more than a year. They had expected to be given entry to the US under the Lautenberg humanitarian programme, but now face potential deportation back to Iran.

Trump Administration betrays Iranian Christian refugees

 

[mark kennedy]

Trump doesn't have to honor the Lautenberg programme, anymore then he has to impose sanctions he signed into law. He can just do whatever he wants.

 

[Albion]

It is unusual to read a news article, however critical it may be of some action, and not find in it even one passing reference to the thinking of the other side.

 

[PeaceByJesus]

It is unusual to read a news article, however critical it may be of some action, and not find in it even one passing reference to the thinking of the other side.

First, it seems that they were conditionally approved, for a NYT article says, "they were bound for a new life in America after what should have been a brief sojourn in Austria for visa processing," but that they must first leave their country in order to be further screened:

Applicants are vetted before they apply for an Austrian transit visa. Once in Vienna, they continue the screening process, pass interviews with Homeland Security and undergo medical exams. Typically, it takes a few months to complete the process, and the approval rate is close to 100 percent.

Enacted in 1989 to enable Jews and Christian minorities from the former Soviet Union to settle in the United States as refugees, the Lautenberg Amendment was expanded in 2003 to include Iranian religious minorities. Austria agreed to serve as a transit point. The applicants cannot work, attend school or receive government benefits while they wait for the United States to process their cases.

Something seems amiss, but note that "evangelical Christians, who make up more than 90 percent of the Lautenberg pool and hail mainly from Ukraine, continue to arrive as usual, but these "Iranian Christians" seem to be a aberrant sect:

Suhaib Nashi, president of the Mandaean Society of America, said he feared for several Mandean families in the Vienna group. Like the Baha’i, Mandeans, who follow the teachings of John the Baptist, lack even the nominal protections of the Iranian Constitution and are thus particularly vulnerable to persecution and pressure to convert to Islam.

The Mandaean religion is a Gnostic religion who reverence John the Baptist and some other Biblical figures yet Mandaeans maintain that Jesus was a mšiha kdaba "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John.

Among other perversities, they also hold to,

a cosmic Father and Mother; The cosmos is created by Archetypal Man, who produces it in similitude to his own shape; Planets and stars influence fate and human beings, and are also places of detention after death; a strict division between Mandaean laity and the [highly esoteric] priests; Great secrecy is enjoined upon initiates; full explanation of 1, 2, and 8 being reserved for those considered able to understand and preserve the gnosis.
Mandaean theology is not systematic. There is no one single authoritative account of the creation of the cosmos, but rather a series of several accounts; Ptahil created our world. The name Ptahil is suggestive of the Egyptian Ptah. - Mandaeism - Wikipedia

The esoteric subjective is made to be the supreme standard, with a type of oral tradition, versus being subject to the objective substantive word of God, the Christian Scriptures.

No wonder the NYT times would prefer them over evangelicals and advocate for this aberrant heretical sect, because they are upset that evangelicals seem to be favored over a heretical group (see below post), stating,

Refugee resettlement officials said that evangelical Christians, who make up more than 90 percent of the Lautenberg pool and hail mainly from Ukraine, continue to arrive as usual.

And given the strange nature of this sect, then it may be the gov. is wary of them as an unknown entity which they have not researched much. In any case, they are not alone as strange religions, as the devil has seduced many who thus need the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[tulc]

It is unusual to read a news article, however critical it may be of some action, and not find in it even one passing reference to the thinking of the other side.

...not when these (basically) same sort of articles came out during President Obama's administration.:
The United States Bars Christian, Not Muslim, Refugees From Syria
Why Isn’t Obama Administration Admitting Christian Syrian Refugees?
this is just a sample. I suspect a search with the CF search engine would produce a bunch of threads and some interesting results as well.
tulc(hasn't forgotten how many of these threads there were during President Obama's administration all pretty much based on identical articles with just a couple of names changed)

 

[PeaceByJesus]

...not when these (basically) same sort of articles came out during President Obama's administration.:
The United States Bars Christian, Not Muslim, Refugees From Syria
Why Isn’t Obama Administration Admitting Christian Syrian Refugees?
this is just a sample. I suspect a search with the CF search engine would produce a bunch of articles would produce some interesting results also.
tulc(hasn't forgotten how many of these threads there were during President Obama's administration all pretty much based on identical articles with just a couple of names changed)

But discrimination against something called "Christian" would be basically expected of the past President, but inconsistent with the present one.

 

[tulc]

But discrimination against something called "Christian" would be basically expected of the past President, but inconsistent with the present one.

...which wasn't the point Albion was making. If I understand his post correctly he's wondering why President Trumps administrations objections/reasoning behind their decision wasn't being shown. My point was that seems to be SOP for these sorts of articles.
tulc(also notes the same would appear to be true in PeaceByJesus's post when writing about President Obama)