World Relief, NAE, USCCB, NaLEC, Center for Study for Global Christianity Reflect on U.S. Church & Immigration, Release New Lifeway Research

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Faith leaders gather during Holy Week to reflect one year after One Part of the Body report

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Contact: Lauren Rasmussen, media@wr.org, 802.310.4255

BALTIMORE, Md. – On March 31, one year after the joint launch of the One Part of the Body: The Potential Impact of Deportation on American Christian Families report, report coauthors including World Relief, National Association of Evangelicals, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Study of Global Christianity, gathered, along with National Latino Evangelical Coalition and an impacted pastor and his family, to talk about the current impact of immigration and enforcement on Christians in the U.S. Additionally, World Relief and Lifeway Research announced new survey results about Protestant pastors’ perspectives on immigration issues.

The panelists discussed the original findings of the One Part of the Body report, including that as of the end of 2024, there were more than 10 million Christian immigrants present in the United States who are vulnerable to deportation and about 80% of all of those at risk of deportation are Christians, including about 61% who are Catholic, 13% who are evangelical and 7% who are adherents to other Christian traditions. Because many of these individuals live in households with U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, or others who are generally not subject to deportation, the report found that nearly 7 million U.S.-citizen Christians live within the same households of those at risk of deportation. Most of these U.S. citizens are spouses or minor children of the immigrant at risk of deportation. Overall, as of this time last year, one out of every 12 Christians in the U.S. — including one out of 18 evangelical Christians and nearly one out of five Catholics — was vulnerable to deportation or could lose at least one family member if the United States government were to deport all of those vulnerable to deportation without any change in law.

The report accounted for undocumented individuals who either entered unlawfully, without inspection, or who overstayed a temporary visa; those whose legal protections were vulnerable to being withdrawn; and individuals with a pending court date, in the event that they were ultimately not granted asylum in immigration court. What the report did not anticipate was the detention of lawfully present refugees, a dynamic which emerged in January during Operation PARRIS in Minnesota.

“A year ago, we warned that a proposed mass deportation policy could potentially harm the U.S. church,” commented Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief. “Sadly, at this point, many of those harms have become a reality, including for hundreds of thousands of immigrants within American churches who were lawfully present at the beginning of the Trump administration but have since had their legal protections abruptly terminated. Christians across denominational differences are praying that, as a new Secretary of Homeland Security takes over, the administration will pivot toward more nuanced enforcement of immigration laws that protect the unity of family and resume the long U.S. tradition of offering refuge to those who have fled persecution.”

At the beginning of 2025, roughly 39,000 individuals were being held in detention. By last March when this report was initially released, the number of people in detention had already reached about 48,000 individuals. Now, at least as of data released by the Department of Homeland Security in February 2026, there are roughly 70,000 people detained. According to that DHS data, more than 73% of those individuals have not been convicted of a crime. The share of detained individuals convicted of a violent crime, according to data obtained by the Cato Institute, is much lower still, about 5%.

“Over the past year, pastors across the country have watched families in their congregations torn apart and ministries stretched thin as mass deportations escalate,” commented Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “These are not abstract policies to us. They are lived realities in our pews and communities. Churches are doing everything they can to offer spiritual, emotional and practical support, and they long for an approach to immigration that honors biblical ethics, the rule of law and the inherent dignity of every person made in God’s image.”

“Deportations, anti-immigrant sentiment, and harsh visa restrictions are damaging the American Christian contribution to global Christianity,” commented Todd M. Johnson, Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. “Fewer global meetings are held in the US, fewer Christian leaders from the Global South are attending our seminaries and universities, and American Christians risk losing touch with those who will lead the Christian faith in the future.”

“The impact of indiscriminate detention and deportation policies on the church is grievous, and when it impacts one member of the Body of Christ, it seeps into all aspects of the interconnected fabric of the life of the church,” commented Bri Stensrud, director of Women of Welcome. “Breadwinners unable to work; children too frightened to wait at bus stops; wives worried the next call will be from a detention facility. While there’s certainly a role for the enforcement of violent criminals, it should not translate into fear and enforcement overreach against law-abiding contributors in our communities and congregations.”

Across the landscape, the report found that Catholics represent 61% of all of those vulnerable to deportation in the United States, including 73% of DACA recipients and 54% of those with Temporary Protected Status. All told, roughly one in five Catholic families in the United States could be affected by deportation, with profound effects on the Catholic Church as a whole.

“In the time since the One Part of the Body report was published, the Catholic bishops of the United States came together to reaffirm the same premise it conveys: when one member suffers, all suffer. It is our profound desire to reassure all who worship in our parishes, as well as those separated from their communities at this time, that they are not alone,” said Bishop Brendan Cahill, chairman, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. “It is in that same spirit that my brother bishops and I continue to pray and dialogue with the Administration and Congress in support of a more humane, more rational, and more authentically American approach to immigration. We are very glad to do so with our evangelical brothers and sisters. “

After a time of reflection on the continued relevance of the One Part of the Body report, the call shifted to a discussion of new survey data released by Lifeway Research, in partnership with World Relief, that highlights the posture of 667 Protestant pastors around issues related to immigration. This new data finds that:

• 98% of pastors believe that legal immigration has been helpful to the U.S.
• Most pastors would like to see legal immigration increased, while another 35% say legal immigration levels should be sustained. Just 13% believe the number of legal immigrants allowed into the U.S. should be decreased.
• 38% of pastors feel that deportation levels are too high and should be reduced, 24% believe that the level of deportation is about right and should be sustained, 18% think deportation levels are too low and should be increased, 16% were not sure, and 4% say there shouldn’t be any deportations.
• Almost all pastors (89%) want those convicted of violent crimes to be prioritized for deportation, along with 80% who cited those reasonably suspected to present a threat to national security, but just 8% or fewer say the same about those who would be willing to pay a fine as restitution for their violation of an immigration law, those with U.S. citizen spouses or children or those who themselves entered as children
• 82% of pastors believe the U.S. has a moral responsibility to receive refugees, which U.S. law defines as those fleeing persecution due to specific factors such as race, religion or political opinion; 84% believe Christians persecuted for their religious beliefs should be prioritized for refugee resettlement.
• A majority of pastors believe that other groups that should be prioritized include those who already have family members resettled in the U.S., Afghans who faced persecution because of their service to the U.S. military, those persecuted on account of their race or ethnicity, those who have fled war in countries such as Ukraine, Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo, or those who have fled threats of gang violence.
• Only 2% of Protestant pastors believe that no refugees should be resettled to the United States.
• 98% believe that any legislation addressing illegal immigration should honor the God-given dignity of every person; 94% say it must protect the unity of the immediate family; and 78% say it should establish a path toward citizenship for those who are here illegally who meet certain qualifications.

“This new data helps us understand the views of Protestant pastors on many of the things happening among immigrants, refugees, and displaced people today,” commented Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, Lifeway Christian Resources. “Pastors’ beliefs and engagement on these issues reveal many areas where their thinking is unified; in fact, 98% believe legal immigration is helpful to the United States. However, immigration decisions have long been deferred in America, and that makes the path forward less clear. While pastors are divided on the volume of deportations that should be taking place, they are more united on who should and should not be prioritized for deportation. More than 9 in 10 pastors rebuff the idea of dividing families or deporting those willing to pay a fine as restitution for not having legal residency.”

The new data finds that Latino pastors feel immigration policy most acutely, with 70% of the Latino pastors surveyed said that immigrants make up either “many” or “nearly all” of their congregations.

“Indiscriminate immigration enforcement over the last 14 months has torn apart American communities and is now striking directly at the heart and soul of the nation: the Church,” commented Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

“While social media tends to amplify our disagreements, Christian leaders across a range of backgrounds are remarkably unified when it comes to immigration,” said Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief and national coordinator of the Evangelical Immigration Table. “As we witness firsthand the family-separating impacts of mass deportation policies, Christians want Congress to act in ways that ensure secure, orderly borders, that facilitate rather than restrict legal immigration, that detain and deport those convicted of violent crimes and that allow other immigrants without permanent status the chance to stay if they’re willing to meet appropriate requirements. Those are not innovative ideas – that’s roughly the outline of past bipartisan legislative efforts supported by leaders like George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio – but, more than ever, Christians are eager to see Congress finally act.”  

Read the new Lifeway Research data on Protestant pastors here.

A recording of the full press call can be found here.