About 100 evangelical leaders have taken out a full-page newspaper ad calling for President Trump to reconsider his temporary ban on refugees and welcome those fleeing persecution and violence, CNN reports.
The ad is slated to be published in The Washington Post and is signed by prominent evangelical pastors, including Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and preacher and author Max Lucado.
"As Christian pastors and leaders, we are deeply concerned by the recently announced moratorium on refugee resettlement," the ad says. "As Christians, we have a historic call expressed over two thousand years, to serve the suffering. We cannot abandon this call now.
"While we are eager to welcome persecuted Christians, we also welcome vulnerable Muslims and people of other faiths or no faith at all. This executive order dramatically reduces the overall number of refugees allowed this year, robbing families of hope and a future. And it could well cost them their lives."
CNN noted other prominent evangelical leaders are supporting the ban, including Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
The Washington Post reports Reed has defended the travel ban, calling it an "entirely prudent move."