Grace Jin Drexel, an American citizen whose father is imprisoned in China for his Christian faith, has urged President Donald Trump to advocate for his release during the president's upcoming visit to China.
Mingri "Ezra" Jin is the pastor of Beijing's Zion Church, one of China's largest underground Christian congregations. In October 2025, he and 22 other church leaders were arrested and imprisoned as part of a Chinese Communist Party crackdown on independent churches. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has since urged Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping on the treatment of Chinese Christians.
"This Eastertide season, President Trump has the unique opportunity and ability to secure the release of my father — building on his already impressive track record of freeing hostages — and show that he has not forgotten persecuted Christians," Drexel told The Daily Wire.
What the Left Is Saying
Democrats have joined Republicans in urging Trump to raise the issue of religious persecution in China. The bipartisan letter was led by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Representative Tom Suozzi (D-NY), along with Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) and Representative Riley Moore (R-WV).
"We encourage you to advocate for their release and request the PRC to allow Mr. Jin to leave China, in addition to raising concerns regarding the ongoing unjust imprisonment and persecution of Christians, Tibetans, and Uyghurs, among other religious and ethnic minority groups across China," the lawmakers wrote.
Drexel testified about her father's plight during a hearing by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in January, and Democrats have highlighted her case as an example of the administration's opportunity to take action on religious freedom.
What the Right Is Saying
Republican lawmakers have been vocal advocates for Drexel's father and other Christians imprisoned in China. Senator Ted Budd, who led the Republican side of the letter, has been a consistent critic of China's religious freedom record.
The Trump administration has previously condemned the arrests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in October 2025: "This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches. We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution."
White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said: "President Trump cares deeply about our great Christians around the world." She did not comment on the president's private conversations.
What the Numbers Show
The October 2025 arrests marked a significant escalation in China's crackdown on religious freedom. At least 23 church leaders from Zion Church were detained in a single operation, representing one of the largest simultaneous arrests of religious figures in recent years.
The initial wave of arrests occurred in October 2025, followed by another wave in January 2026 when police arrested at least seven people linked to Early Rain Covenant Church, another prominent evangelical Presbyterian congregation in southwestern China.
Drexel's father became a Christian after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, she told The Daily Wire. She said the traumatic experience led him to seek purpose and direction, which he found in Christianity.
The Bottom Line
The daughter's appeal comes as Trump prepares for a visit to China, a moment advocates see as an opportunity to secure tangible progress on religious freedom. The bipartisan congressional letter signals rare agreement between Democrats and Republicans that the administration should prioritize this issue.
Drexel expressed hope that both leaders, as fathers themselves, would understand her family's plight. "As a daughter, I want my father back with us in the U.S.," she said. The State Department has called on China to release all detained church leaders, though it remains unclear whether direct diplomatic pressure will yield results during the upcoming visit.