Do evangelicals support Trump administration immigration legislation? What poll finds
Evangelical Christians — a group seen by experts as one of President Donald Trump’s biggest constituencies — have mixed views on his immigration legislation, a recently released poll found.
Nearly three quarters of evangelicals (70%) said they believe the U.S. has a moral responsibility to accept refugees, with 34% saying they strongly agree and 36% saying they somewhat agree, according to a Feb. 5 poll by Christian media company Lifeway Research.
When it comes to helping immigrants who are undocumented, however, the number of evangelicals who said they believe they are responsible to do so dropped to 55%, according to results.
The poll of 1,004 Americans who identified as evangelical was conducted Jan. 13-21 and has a margin of error of 3.1%, researchers said.
The results come on the heels of a Trump administration executive order suspending decisions on applications for refugee status, citing that the U.S. cannot take in large numbers of refugees “in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees.”
Evangelicals’ views on immigration issues have been stable over the years, researchers said.
A majority of those polled say they think immigration is helpful, but they want more legislation that respects the rule of law and dignity of every person, guarantees secure national borders, ensures fairness to taxpayers and establishes a path toward citizenship for those who are undocumented.
“Evangelicals’ care for refugees and immigrants is as steady as their political preference,” Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a Feb. 5 news release.
According to the poll, 80% of evangelicals say it is important that Congress passes significant new immigration legislation in 2025.
Amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, the poll also asked evangelicals about which immigrant groups they thought should be prioritized for deportation.
Sixty-seven percent said individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes should be prioritized, and individuals reasonably suspected to present a threat to national security were next at 63%, according to the poll.
People who entered the country more than 10 years ago, are parents of at least one U.S. citizen child or are married to a lawful resident or U.S. citizen were at the bottom of the priority list, the poll found.
Only 3% of evangelicals responded with none of the above, and 5% said they were not sure, according to the poll.
