Although Evangelicals support border security, a majority believe the United States has a moral obligation to accept refugees and Christians have a responsibility care for immigrants regardless of whether they are in the U.S. legally, a new poll suggests.
Lifeway Research published the results of a survey examining Evangelicals’ attitudes on immigration policy in the U.S. on Wednesday. The research was based on interviews conducted between Jan. 13 and 21 and had a margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points.
The survey sponsors include Evangelical organizations that have been critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Those include the Evangelical Immigration Table, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, which the U.S. State Department pays to resettle refugees in the country.
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Taking office on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program after over 100,000 refugees were resettled in the U.S. in fiscal year 2024 under the Biden administration, the highest yearly total in three decades.
Respondents were asked if they agreed with the statement the U.S. “has a moral responsibility to accept refugees, which U.S. law defines as someone fleeing persecution due to specific factors such as their race, religion, or political opinion.”
About 70% of Evangelical respondents indicated that they strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement, while 23% said they somewhat or strongly disagreed with the statement. Seven percent said they were unsure.
Just under two-thirds of respondents agreed with the statement, “Christians have a responsibility to care sacrificially for refugees and other foreigners.”
When it comes to illegal immigration, most Evangelicals surveyed support deporting illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes (67%) and those “reasonably suspected to present a threat to national security” (63%). But deporting other groups of illegal immigrants received much less priority among Evangelicals.
Less than half of Evangelicals said the U.S. should prioritize deporting those who refused to pay a fine for residing in the country illegally (30%), illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. within the last five years (25%) and those brought to the country illegally as children (19%).
Even smaller percentages of Evangelicals said the government should prioritize deporting those who would be willing to pay a fine for residing in the country illegally (17%), illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between 5 and 10 years ago (16%), illegal immigrants who have resided in the U.S. for at least 10 years (14%), those who have at least one U.S. citizen child (14%) and “individuals who are married to a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident” (14%).
“Less than 1 in 6 evangelicals value deporting undocumented immigrants whose immediate family has legal status or have been in the country for more than five years,” Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a statement. “These are their neighbors and families they don’t want to see divided.”
Evangelicals were split on the idea of a “zero tolerance policy” when it comes to illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border, including separating parents from their children. Forty-five percent of respondents indicated that they would support such a policy, while 43% said they would oppose it.
After noting that a solid majority of Evangelicals (80%) think it is important that the U.S. Congress passes “significant immigration legislation” in 2025, the survey asked respondents what they wanted such legislation to include.
The overwhelming majority of those surveyed expressed support for legislation that “ensures fairness to taxpayers” (93%), “respects the rule of law” (92%) and “guarantees secure national borders” (90%).
At the same time, the overwhelming majority of respondents signaled support for immigration legislation that “respects the God-given dignity of every person” (90%) and “protects the unity of the immediate family” (90%). A smaller but still substantial share of Evangelicals (74%) wanted to see immigration legislation that “establishes a path toward citizenship for those here illegally.”
Seventy-six percent of those surveyed favored legislation that includes both increased border security and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, while 81% said they liked the idea of legislation that “strengthens border security” and establishes a path to citizenship for the group of illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children (“Dreamers”) and seeking to provide “enough farm workers.”
“A large majority of evangelicals want increased border security, Dreamers to be able to apply for citizenship and farming needs to be met with enough screened immigrant farmworkers each year,” said McConnell. “Evangelicals want a system that is both fair and alleviates potential threats to national security.”
The survey also examined what role Evangelicals believed their individual churches had to play in caring for illegal immigrants and shaping the immigration debate, as well as the moral responsibilities of individual Christians.
The overwhelming majority of respondents (80%) told pollsters that they would “value hearing a sermon that teaches how biblical principles and examples can be applied to immigration in the U.S.”
When asked if they believed Christians had a “responsibility to care for refugees and others who are forcibly displaced in other countries,” 73% answered in the affirmative. Fifty-five percent believe that “Christians have a responsibility to assist immigrants even if they are here illegally.”
In a statement on the research, World Relief CEO Myal Greene shared hope that “President Trump will heed the voices of evangelical Christians and restore the U.S. refugee resettlement program.” She called it “a longstanding, lawful immigration process that protects persecuted Christians and others fleeing persecution.” Greene hopes Trump will pursue “a broader range of immigration policies that protect family unity, ensure secure and orderly borders and respect the dignity of all people as made in God’s image.”
As one of a few nonprofits that receive payments from the State Department to resettle refugees in the U.S., World Relief was told in January to halt all government-funded activities serving almost 4,000 refugees. The charity, which cut 140 employees and closed five offices in 2017 during Trump’s first term, said it is facing an $8 million funding gap that “must be filled in the next month as a result of the federal funding suspension.”
A separate poll from Rasmussen Reports last week found that 57% of likely U.S. voters support the Trump administration’s immigration “raids” after he took office to “apprehend and deport illegal immigrants.” That survey was based on 1,229 responses collected between Jan. 26 and 28.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
