A new survey shows that most Protestant pastors in the United States favor legal immigration, refugee resettlement and offering certain undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, while opinions remain split on deportation and detention policies.
The study, released Tuesday by Lifeway Research and sponsored by World Relief, draws on responses from 667 Protestant pastors collected between Jan. 13 and March 4 regarding immigration issues.
More than half of respondents, 53%, described legal immigration as “helpful to the U.S.” and said “we should increase the number of legal immigrants approved in a year,” while 35% said it is “helpful to the U.S.” but that “we should maintain the current number of legal immigrants approved in a year.” Another 10% indicated that legal immigration is “helpful to the U.S., but too high, and we should decrease the number of legal immigrants approved in a year.”
Views on enforcement policies were more divided. A plurality of pastors, 38%, said “the current level of immigrant detention and deportation is too high and should be reduced,” while 24% responded that “the current level of immigrant detention and deportation is right and should be sustained.”
Eighteen percent said, “The current level of immigrant detention and deportation is too low and should be increased further,” and 4% stated, “No immigrants should be detained or deported.”
When asked about enforcement priorities, most pastors supported deporting specific groups, including “individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes” (89%) and “individuals reasonably suspected to present a threat to national security” (80%).
Support dropped significantly for deporting other groups, such as those who arrived within the past five years (30%), those unwilling to pay a fine (27%), those who arrived between five and 10 years ago (15%), those in the country for more than a decade (13%), those willing to pay a fine (8%), those brought to the U.S. as children (7%), those with a U.S. citizen child (7%) and those married to a U.S. citizen (3%).
Large majorities backed legislation that “respects the dignity of every God-given person” (98%), “protects the unity of the immediate family” (94%), “respects the rule of law” (92%), “ensures fairness to taxpayers” (90%), “guarantees secure national borders” (89%) and “establishes a path toward citizenship for those here illegally” (78%).
Additionally, 82% of pastors supported policies that “increases border security and establishes a process to earn legal status and apply for citizenship.”
With the Trump administration having largely paused refugee resettlement since taking office, pastors were also asked which groups should be prioritized for admission into the United States.
A significant majority, 84%, identified “Christians who have fled persecution on account of their faith” as a priority. Other widely supported groups included refugees with family members already in the U.S. (70%), Afghans who assisted U.S. forces during the War on Terror (63%) and those fleeing persecution based on race or ethnicity (60%).
Many pastors also favored prioritizing individuals escaping conflict in countries such as Ukraine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (57%), as well as those fleeing gang violence (51%). Fewer respondents supported prioritizing individuals persecuted for political beliefs (46%) or non-Christians facing religious persecution (44%).
Only 2% said no refugees should be admitted to the U.S., while 81% agreed that “the U.S. has a moral responsibility to accept refugees.”
