Episcopal Bishop: We Aren’t Helping Afrikaners Because They ‘Jumped the Line’

COOPER: “Joining me now is Bishop Sean Rowe. Bishop Rowe, I appreciate you being with us. Is what you did crazy?”
ROWE: “Well, I don‘t think so. I think it‘s principled. And it was the decision that we needed to make. We think it was the moral decision. In fact, not only is it not crazy, it is the reality is that we can‘t be ourselves as the church, as the people that Jesus has called us to, which is the most vulnerable, and take the step of resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa. We‘re told to care for the poor and the vulnerable, and we‘re going to follow — we‘re going to follow that. And I don‘t think that‘s crazy. I think it‘s principled.”
COOPER: “In a statement, the White House said, in part, that the Episcopal Church‘s decision ‘raises serious questions about its supposed commitment to humanitarian aid.’ And they said that the refugee resettlement should be about need, not politics. What do you say to that?”
ROWE: “Oh, I agree, it should be about need. And as you‘ve reported, you know, look at the thousands of people fleeing war and violence, people who are waking up dead around the world, people who have helped our military that are being left in camps on a daily basis, while white Afrikaners have been fast-tracked? You‘re right. It is about need. And if you look at this decision, this is really about people who have jumped the line. When you look at the fact that the entire refugee resettlement program in the United States has been totally gutted, that almost no refugees have been admitted since January, and the only ones that are being admitted are white Afrikaners, I don‘t know what that says, but we can‘t be a part of that.”
COOPER: “It‘s interesting, because part of what President Trump has mentioned about refugees coming here is about the ability to assimilate. I know Sudanese refugees. I was in Kakuma, in northern Kenya, 30 years ago in refugee camps. I’ve met Sudanese boys who had been child soldiers, who became refugees, who are living, you know, in Arizona right now and are doing well and are American citizens and are proud of it. What, in your experience, have you seen about the ability to assimilate from the refugees you have helped, who have come from all over the world?”
ROWE: “Well, these new Americans that we‘ve helped over the last 40 years have become a part of a part of our society. They‘ve integrated in profound and deep ways. The Sudanese diaspora is a significant part of the Episcopal Church. Look, this claim, if we‘re talking about people who can assimilate, what are we then saying? Only white Afrikaners can assimilate? Only white people can assimilate into the United States? I don‘t believe that. I don‘t think that‘s what this is about. This really needs to be about need around the world.”
COOPER: “And there are a lot of — and there are a lot of people in refugee camps, some of whom had been approved from the last administration, who were ready to get on planes and that‘s just been shut down.”
ROWE: “We had people waiting on airplanes. We had people who have helped our country, that have been translators for our military, that have been patriots for this country, that are waiting in camps, while white Afrikaners are being let in on a fast track. We just — we feel like that, as a moral matter, we can‘t participate in.
COOPER: “Bishop Sean Rowe, I appreciate your time. Thanks for being with us.”
ROWE: “Thank you.”