White evangelicals stand out from other Christians on immigration issues

March 6, 2024

New analysis from the Pew Research Center shows white evangelical Protestants are more likely to believe that the border crisis and ongoing migrant surge will lead to higher crime. According to the Deseret News, 70% of evangelicals say they view the border situation as a crisis, compared to 45% of U.S. adults.

A similar 25% gap can be seen between the number of white evangelicals who say they believe the large number of migrants entering the U.S via the Southern border will lead to a higher crime rate.

The study also shows a significant difference of opinion between white evangelicals and other white Christians. 82% of white evangelicals believe that the current migrant surge will lead to more crime, compared to just 70% of white Catholics and 69% of white evangelical Protestants.

Among religiously unaffiliated Americans, those numbers are even lower with only 41% believing the surge in migrants will lead to more crime and only 27% who believe that migrants are causing a crisis.

According to Pew Research, the results likely reflect differences in political affiliation. Both Biden and Trump have made recent visits to the Southern border, prompting some to refer to the 2024 contest as an “immigration election.”

The research appears to show that far more Republicans than Democrats consider the border situation and migrant surge to be a crisis rather than simply a problem.

Pew found that 89% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats agree that the federal government is doing a poor job of dealing with the large number of migrants attempting to enter the U.S.

Photo: top, Credit: Eric Gay/Associated Press