Pastors split on deportations but most support path to citizenship: poll

April 2, 2026

A new survey by Lifeway Research shows most Protestant pastors in the United States support legal immigration and establishing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally, but they are divided on the deportation and detention of illegal immigrants.

The Christian Post reports that the new survey, sponsored by the Evangelical refugee resettlement organization World Relief, is based on responses from 667 Protestant pastors collected Jan. 13 through March 4.

Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a statement, “Pastors are largely united on principles of legislative reform, signaling they believe changes are needed in America’s immigration laws. While they clearly want laws to be followed, they also find fault with the laws that are on the books.”

53% of the pastors surveyed described legal immigration as “helpful to the U.S.” and believed “we should increase the number of legal immigrants approved in a year,” while 35% said legal immigration was “helpful to the U.S.” and that “we should maintain the current number of legal immigrants approved in a year.”

2% of the pastors surveyed viewed legal immigration as “harmful to the U.S.,” and called for a decrease in the number of legal immigrants admitted in a year.

Just 1% of the pastors also said legal immigration was “harmful to the U.S.” while supporting a complete halt to legal immigration.

According to the Christian Post, overwhelming majorities of pastors support potential immigration legislation that “respects the dignity of every God-given person”, “protects the unity of the immediate family”, “respects the rule of law”, “ensures fairness to taxpayers”, “guarantees secure national borders” and “establishes a path toward citizenship for those here illegally.”

McConnell said, “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. 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.”

The survey contains an error margin of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.  

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