Pastors overwhelmingly view legal immigration positively but are more divided over the proper response to those who are in the United States illegally.
Additionally, US Protestant pastors say they favor a path to citizenship for certain undocumented individuals even as they also want to see border security increased, according to a Lifeway Research study sponsored by World Relief.
“Pastors nearly universally believe legal immigration has been a blessing to the country and to the church,” said Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief. “As churches have been directly affected by immigration enforcement over the past year, pastors affirm the need for secure borders and deportation of those convicted of violent crimes, but they want to see more humane, family-unity protecting alternatives for other categories of immigrants.”
The study polled 667 American pastors between January and March. Consistent with previous studies of evangelical views on immigration, it found that pastors want an approach to immigration that balances a secure border and respect for the law with respect for individuals and a pathway to citizenship.
Four in 5 US Protestant pastors (82%) would support changes to immigration law that increase border security and establish a process to earn legal status and apply for citizenship, including 47 percent who strongly support those combined changes. In a 2025 Lifeway Research study, 76 percent of US evangelicals supported similar changes that would accomplish both goals.
As far as specific principles guiding immigration legislative reform, almost every pastor (98%) supports legislation that respects the God-given dignity of every person. Close to 9 in 10 also say they support legislation that protects the unity of the immediate family (94%), respects the rule of law (92%), ensures fairness to taxpayers (90%) and guarantees secure national borders (89%).
Almost 4 in 5 pastors (78%) specifically support immigration legislation that establishes a path toward citizenship for those who are here illegally and meet certain qualifications for citizenship.
“Pastors are largely united on principles of legislative reform, signaling they believe changes are needed in America’s immigration laws,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “While they clearly want laws to be followed, they also find fault with the laws that are on the books.”
Pastors likely share both the political perspective and personal experience of their congregations. Three in 5 pastors (59%) describe their political views as conservative, 19 percent moderate and 19 percent liberal. Two in three say the average member of their congregation is conservative, 20 percent moderate and 13 percent liberal.
Around half (47%) of Protestant pastors say they have at least some first-generation immigrants in their church, similar to US evangelicals more broadly.
Immigration attitudes
As pastors think about immigration, 98 percent believe legal immigration is helpful to the United States. Specifically, 53 percent say the country should increase the number of legal immigrants approved in a year. More than a third (35%) believe legal immigration is helpful and that the current level should be maintained. One in 10 believe it is helpful but currently too high.
Pastors are more split on the government’s approach to immigrants already in the country. As the number of immigrants who have been detained and deported has increased in the past year, 38 percent of US Protestant pastors believe the current level of deportation is too high and should be reduced. A quarter (24%) believe the level is right and should be sustained, while 18 percent say it is too low and should be increased. Few (4%) believe no immigrants should be detained or deported.
Pastors say they want the government to prioritize deporting those who have a violent past or pose a security threat. Almost 9 in 10 (89%) believe individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes should be prioritized for deportation. Four in 5 point to those reasonably suspected to present a threat to national security.
Fewer say deportation efforts should prioritize individuals who entered the country in the last five years (30%), who are unwilling or unable to pay a monetary fine as restitution for their violation of the law (27%), or who entered the country more than 10 years ago (13%).
Fewer than 1 in 10 US Protestant pastors believe the government should prioritize for deportation individuals who would be willing to pay a monetary fine as restitution for violating the law (8%), who were brought to the country unlawfully when they were children (7%), who are the parents of at least one US citizen child (7%) or who are married to a lawful resident or citizen (3%).
“Difficult immigration decisions have long been deferred in America, and that makes the solutions 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,” McConnell said. “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.”
Pastors specifically oppose the deportation of Afghans who had converted to Christianity or who supported the US military—some of whom have received notifications advising them to self-deport or risk forced removal. Three in 4 pastors (75%) oppose the deportation of those individuals, including 54 percent who strongly oppose it. Around 1 in 7 (15%) support this group’s deportation.
Congregation responsibilities and reaction
In the last decade, the number of people globally who have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution or conflict has nearly doubled, with more than 120 million currently living displaced. Most pastors believe the US government has a responsibility to refugees, and many say their churches are already serving these individuals.
More than 4 in 5 pastors (82%) believe the US has a moral responsibility to accept refugees, those who are fleeing persecution due to specific factors such as their race, religion or political opinions, including 78 percent of evangelical pastors and 90 percent of mainline Protestant pastors. Seven in 10 evangelicals agree.
Christians who have fled persecution should be a top priority for refugee resettlement, according to 84 percent of pastors. Other refugees whom most pastors said should be a priority for resettlement include those who have family members already resettled in the US (70%), Afghans who face persecution because of their service to the US military (63%), those who have fled persecution on account of their race or ethnicity (60%) and those who have fled war in countries such as Ukraine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (57%). Half (51%) felt those fleeing gang violence should be prioritized.
Fewer cited individuals who have fled political persecution (46%) or those fleeing persecution on account of non-Christian religious traditions (44%). Only 18 percent said the members of the Afrikaner ethnic minority group from South Africa should be a priority for resettlement, and almost no pastors (2%) believe no refugees at all should be admitted to the United States.
“The administration’s suspension of all refugee resettlement early in 2025 and then its narrow reopening of refugee resettlement only for ethnically white individuals from South Africa are starkly out of touch with the views of both evangelical and mainline Protestant pastors,” observed Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief. “If they wanted to appeal to pastors, they would do well to prioritize other groups of refugees, such as those persecuted for their Christian faith, those seeking reunification with family members already in the United States and Afghans at risk because of their service to the US military.”
When those refugees arrive, many congregations look to assist them. Two in 5 churches (41 percent) currently have or have previously had a ministry that serves refugees or other immigrants, including 24 percent of pastors who say their church has an active current ministry.
When asked what three global issues they consider to be the most urgent, pastors place discipleship (71 percent) and evangelism (62 percent) at the top. Pastors are more divided about what other world crises the church should focus on. A quarter of pastors say churches should address global migration, for instance, and 1 in 5 (20%) say they should focus on orphans and vulnerable children. But fewer than 1 in 10 say the church should address climate change (9%) or global health (6%).
“Being asked to pick only three urgent issues on such a list of global needs is difficult. Pastors, no doubt, were trying to balance the size of the need and the fit with the ministry of their churches. The existence of many global Christian ministries addressing these needs allow churches to partner in such work without much effort if they are willing,” said McConnell.
Considering recent cuts to government funding for foreign assistance impacting food, health and humanitarian disaster response programs, almost half of pastors (46%) say their churches have stepped up to do more to address these needs, while 6 percent say they haven’t done so yet but will.
One in 5 (21%) pastors say they have encouraged or will encourage their elected official to restore the funds, and 14 percent have spoken or will speak to their congregation about advocating for the restoration of the funding.
But other pastors support a reduction in foreign aid. More than 1 in 5 (22%) say they fully support the government funding cuts to foreign assistance, while slightly fewer (19%) say they believe some cuts were appropriate but these went too far.
Around a quarter (26%) say the church cannot fill the gap left by the reduction in government funding.
