New Lifeway Research Study Finds Strong Evangelical Support for Refugee Resettlement, Legal Immigration, Border Security & a Path to Citizenship for the Undocumented, Scant Support for Deportation beyond Violent Criminals

Contact: wr@pinkston.co

(Baltimore, MD) February 5, 2025 – With immigration dominating headlines, a new study from Lifeway Research suggests that evangelical Christians hold nuanced views on immigration issues that many will find surprising. 

The study is based on a survey conducted last month of 1,004 Americans who self-identify as evangelical and/or strongly affirm specific evangelical theological beliefs.

While nine-out-of-ten evangelicals support immigration legislation that would “ensure secure national borders,” the exact same share say that potential legislation addressing illegal immigration should “protect the unity of the immediate family” and “respect the God-given dignity of each person.” In fact, each of the six principles outlined in the Evangelical Statement of Principles for Immigration Reform, first released in 2012, continues to be supported by at least 74 percent of all evangelicals, including establishing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally who meet certain qualifications, roughly the same as in a similar survey conducted last year.

At a time when the U.S. refugee resettlement program has been suspended, the study suggests that most evangelicals support the program, which allows individuals determined to have fled persecution on account of their race, religion, political opinion or other factors to lawfully enter the United States. A recent Christian Statement on Refugee Resettlement has now been signed by more than 11,000 Christians, and the study suggests that the large majority of evangelicals share those views.

“Seven in ten evangelical Christians believe that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees, including about two-thirds of evangelical Christians who voted for President Trump last November,” said Myal Greene, president & CEO of World Relief. “This study also affirms that the vast majority of evangelical Christians believe that legal immigration has benefited our country, a conviction that President Trump has repeatedly expressed as well. My prayer is that President Trump will heed the voices of evangelical Christians and restore the U.S. refugee resettlement program, a longstanding, lawful immigration process that protects persecuted Christians and others fleeing persecution, while also pursuing 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 changes to deportation policies, including a policy opening up the possibility of immigration enforcement occurring in or near church services, have elicited religious liberty concerns from evangelical leaders, the study suggests that evangelical Christians in the pews have nuanced views on deportation as well.

“Several of the immigration-related executive orders of the past two weeks have sent a chill up the spine of Latino evangelical churches,” said Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition. “As this new polling shows, Latino evangelicals – like evangelicals as a whole – support the deportation of those convicted of violent crimes, but the prioritization of other immigrants for deportation – including who have been in the country for several years, those with U.S. citizen children and those who would be willing to pay a fine as a part of a legalization process – is unpopular with the vast majority of evangelical Christians. Eighty-five percent of Latino evangelicals and 74 percent of evangelicals of all ethnicities want undocumented immigrants to be able to earn citizenship if they meet appropriate qualifications. The administration and Members of Congress in both parties would be cheered by evangelicals if, rather than employing divisive rhetoric and terrifying policies, they would do the hard work of passing these long overdue immigration reforms.”

The research also underscores the importance that evangelicals place on family, with 9 in 10 evangelicals supporting responses to illegal immigration that protect the unity of the immediate family.

“Evangelical Christians believe that marriage and family are gifts instituted by God for human flourishing and are foundational for vibrant communities,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “No society that deliberately breaks up families — whether of immigrants or citizens — can long prosper. More than 90% of evangelicals support immigration reform policies that protect the unity of the immediate family. A sound pro-family policy can maintain national security and offer alternatives to deportation for mixed status families and legal channels for refugees and immigrants to reunite.”

To view the full Lifeway Research dataset, visit https://research.lifeway.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-Evangelical-Views-on-Immigration-Report.pdf.