Evangelical Christians support refugees, despite mixed views on immigration, survey finds
Evangelical Christians are overall supportive of legislative action to protect refugees and provide pathways for legal citizenship, despite sometimes mixed views on immigrants and their impact on U.S. society, a new survey finds.
A new study from Brentwood-based Lifeway Research paints a quantitative picture of the messy reality for a religious identity that's increasingly loyal to President Donald Trump's hardline politics but is also supportive of the ministry work of caring for those whom Trump's policies are targeting. As part of that, the data seems to align with some evangelical groups' recent statements about Trump administration executive actions related to immigration and refugee resettlement.
'It's easy to presume the loudest evangelical voices on television or social media — who tend to advocate the extreme positions of either mass deportation and shutting out refugees on one hand or open borders and amnesty on the other — are the majority opinion, but this polling confirms my anecdotal experience in local evangelical churches across the United States,' Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at the evangelical nonprofit World Relief, said in a news release Wednesday about the new Lifeway Research study.
World Relief was among several partner organizations that supported the recent survey administered by Lifeway Research, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention's publishing arm. Many of the same groups involved with the survey co-signed a Jan. 24 letter to the newly inaugurated president asking Trump to reconsider suspending the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program and to modify an executive action that allows U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to conduct detention activity at 'sensitive locations' such as churches and schools.
'President Trump, you have said that you want people to come into the country 'in the largest numbers ever' — but to do so legally,' the Jan. 24 letter said. 'Lawfully admitted refugees who have fled persecution on account of their faith could help you to achieve this goal, meeting the needs of the U.S. labor market in an economy we hope will thrive under your leadership, while also offering protection and freedom to individuals persecuted and denied religious liberty abroad.'
The Jan. 24 letter's signatories included World Relief, the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, which is the Nashville-based SBC's public policy arm, and others. This spirit of dissent toward some Trump executive actions on immigration mirrors that of other U.S. religious groups, especially the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Both evangelical Protestant and Catholic groups, including conservative and Republican-leaning ones, are on the frontlines of ministering to immigrants and refugees.
This sympathy toward refugees on an institutional level among evangelicals is reflected in Lifeway Research's new study on Wednesday, which found 70% of respondents believe the U.S. 'has a moral responsibility to accept refugees' and 64% say 'Christians have a responsibility to care sacrificially for refugees and foreigners.'
Among the study's 1,000-plus respondents, 61% voted for Trump in the 2024 election and 50% identify as conservative. But only 31% of respondents said the positions of elected officials have influenced their views on immigration, whereas more evangelical respondents cited personal encounters with immigrants as influencing their views.
'Evangelicals' care for refugees and immigrants is as steady as their political preference, but some leaders may not be listening,' Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a news release Wednesday.
Still, multiple surveys ahead of the 2024 election in November identified immigration as a top issue for many evangelicals who planned on voting for Trump, of whom more than 80% ultimately did so. Some of that discourse is also present in the latest Lifeway Research study.
More than 40% of respondents in the Lifeway Research study say immigrants to the U.S. 'are a drain on economic resources' and 'a threat to the safety of citizens.' In contrast, only 25% of respondents said immigrants' benefit 'America's cultural diversity' and 16% agree immigrants are 'a boost to entrepreneurial activity.'
Some of the statistics showing that evangelicals believe immigrants are harming the U.S. economy and society are higher than similar data reported by Lifeway Research in 2024 and 2022 studies. A quarter of respondents said immigrants who have entered the country in the past five years should be 'prioritized for deportation' and 45% of respondents support at 'zero tolerance' policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But Lifeway Research also found a wide appetite for legislation that creates pathways for citizenship, with 81% of respondents showing support for 'bipartisan immigration reform' that includes a path to citizenship for Dreamers, those who were brought to this country has children.
Other Lifeway Research politics studies: What new surveys say about Harris' support among Black Protestants, Trump abortion fallout
Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on social media @liamsadams.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Immigration: New survey highlights views of evangelical Christians
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