Evangelicals are split on immigration issues but largely agree on the need for a secure border and want their pastor to address the topic more, according to a new Lifeway Research survey. The survey found that 70 percent of evangelicals believe the United States has a moral responsibility to accept refugees who are fleeing persecution, while 73 percent believe Christians have a responsibility to care for refugees who are forcibly displaced in other countries around the world.

“Evangelicals’ care for refugees and immigrants is as steady as their political preference, but some leaders may not be listening,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

But on other issues, there is less agreement. For example, 55 percent of evangelicals say Christians have a responsibility “to assist immigrants even if they are here illegally.” A little over one-third (37 percent) disagree.

Asked which groups of immigrants who are in the country unlawfully “should be prioritized for deportation,” evangelicals are mostly in agreement that individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes (67 percent) and individuals “reasonably suspected to present a threat to national security” (63 percent) should be high on the list. There is far less agreement whether the United States should prioritize deportation for individuals who are in the country illegally and who are “unwilling or unable to pay a monetary fine as restitution for their violation of law” (30 percent) who “entered the country in the last five years” (25 percent) and who “were brought to the country unlawfully when they were children” (19 percent).

“A large majority of evangelicals do not want immigrants unlawfully in the country to be prioritized for deportation except if they have been convicted of violent crimes or pose a threat to national security,” McConnell said. “Less than 1 in 6 evangelicals value deporting undocumented immigrants whose immediate family has legal status or who have been in the country for more than five years. These are their neighbors and families they don’t want to see divided.”

A large majority of evangelicals, 90 percent, support legislation that “guarantees secure national borders.” About three-fourths (74 percent) back a proposal to establish a path toward citizenship for individuals “who are here illegally, are interested, and meet certain qualifications.”

Most evangelicals, 80 percent, say they would value hearing a sermon focusing on how biblical principles can be applied to immigration in the United States.

The Lifeway Research study was sponsored by the Evangelical Immigration Table, World Relief, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, and the National Association of Evangelicals.

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