Lifeway Research: Evangelicals want secure borders and citizenship pathway for immigrants

Source: Evangelicals want secure borders and citizenship pathway for immigrants 

 Baptist Press

 By Aaron Earls - Posted at Baptist Press:

Published February 5, 2025

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Many U.S. evangelicals may view early immigration and refugee maneuvers by President Donald Trump’s administration as a mixed bag.

Evangelicals want both secure borders and laws that provide avenues for certain illegal immigrants to obtain legal status, according to a Lifeway Research study. They want to deport dangerous illegal immigrants but aren’t as concerned about those who arrived as children and have lived peacefully in the U.S. Additionally, evangelicals recognize personal and national responsibilities to care for refugees and others fleeing their nation of origin.

The Lifeway Research study finds self-identified evangelicals and evangelicals by belief, those who hold four key theological convictions, are predominantly Trump voters and politically conservative. They also see their faith as a primary influence on their views of immigration and related political issues.

Studies over the past four years show stability among the perspectives and priorities of evangelicals concerning immigration. The 2025 study was sponsored by the Evangelical Immigration Table, World Relief, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and the National Association of Evangelicals and was conducted by Lifeway Research.

“Over the past several years, through all the rhetoric of a tumultuous political season, evangelicals’ views on immigration issues have actually been remarkably stable,” said Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief. “The big news here is how little has changed despite the prominence of immigration-related rhetoric in the presidential campaign. Most evangelicals — whether the majority who voted for President Trump or the minority who voted for Vice President Harris — still want the same common-sense things from immigration policy they wanted in past surveys.”

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