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Survey: Many Christian voters in US see immigration as a crisis

Christian voters and faith leaders have long been in the frontlines of providing assistance to migrants — but when it comes to support for immigration policies, from border security to legalization options for migrants already in the U.S., priorities diverge broadly.

Quick Read

  • Faith-Based Assistance to Migrants: Christian voters and leaders have historically supported migrants through aid and support, though opinions on immigration policies vary widely.
  • Presidential Visits to the Border: Both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump presented their solutions for the immigration system during visits to the Texas border, highlighting the issue’s significance in the current election.
  • Divergent Views Among Christians: Perspectives on immigration among Christians range from humanitarian concerns to the emphasis on law and order, reflecting the diversity within and across denominations.
  • Public Opinion on Immigration Crisis: According to a Pew Research Center survey, perceptions of the border influx as a crisis vary among religious groups, with white Catholics and Protestants more likely to view it as such.
  • Reasons for Migrant Influx: Different groups attribute the influx of migrants to varying factors, including U.S. immigration policies and economic opportunities, as well as violence in home countries.
  • Evangelical Immigration Table: While supporting border security and rule of law, many evangelicals also favor legal status for certain groups and comprehensive immigration solutions.
  • Southern Baptist Convention Stance: The SBC’s public policy wing advocates for a balance between increased enforcement and accessible legal pathways, criticizing the politicization of the issue.
  • Christian Groups’ Role in Migrant Aid: Across the U.S., Christian organizations play a significant role in providing various forms of assistance to migrants, from shelter and food to legal aid.
  • Cultural and Religious Significance: In communities like Miami, religious sites such as La Ermita serve as focal points for migrant prayer and reflection, underscoring the deep ties between faith and immigration.

The Associated Press has the story:

Survey: Many Christian voters in US see immigration as a crisis

Newslooks- MIAMI (AP) —

Christian voters and faith leaders have long been in the frontlines of providing assistance to migrants — but when it comes to support for immigration policies, from border security to legalization options for migrants already in the U.S., priorities diverge broadly.

Both President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Donald Trump traveled to the border in Texas last Thursday to present their vision of how to fix what most agree is a broken system — immigration has risen to a top concern for Americans in this presidential election year.

FILE – Venezuelan migrants pray at a camping site outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

At the border with Mexico in El Paso, Texas, Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz believes that a nation has the right to a secure and orderly border, and to vet those who want to cross it, but he emphasizes the Church’s social teaching of caring for the poorest and most vulnerable.

“Here in El Paso … we don’t say, ‘Show me your papers.’ As Christians we say, ‘How can I help you in your suffering?’” Seitz said, who leads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee. “This is not a political issue in the first instance, it’s about putting into practice what Jesus Christ taught through the Church.”

FILE – Migrants pray before turning themselves in to immigration authorities in downtown El Paso, Texas on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

Still in Texas, a flashpoint not only in crossings but in an escalating battle between the federal and state governments over border management, a prominent megachurch pastor and Trump supporter said his church welcomes everyone — but the faithful also have an obligation to obey the law.

“At First Baptist Church in Dallas we do not check for green cards — that’s government’s responsibility,” the Rev. Robert Jeffress said in an email. “The Bible teaches that God created the institution of government to protect its citizens. … Christians have a duty to obey the laws government establishes which would include immigration laws.”

FILE – Senior Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress addresses attendees before Vice President Mike Pence made comments at First Baptist Church Dallas during a Celebrate Freedom Rally in Dallas, Sunday, June 28, 2020. “At First Baptist Church in Dallas we do not check for green cards—-that’s government’s responsibility,” Jeffress says. “The Bible teaches that God created the institution of government to protect its citizens … Christians have a duty to obey the laws government establishes which would include immigration laws.” (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Whether a humanitarian or a security emphasis resonates the most varies among and within Christian denominations — like the white evangelicals who overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2020 election or the Catholics who were split almost evenly between him and Biden.

According to a survey released this week by the Pew Research Center, majorities of white Catholics and Protestants, both evangelical and nonevangelical, consider that the big influx at the U.S.-Mexican border is a crisis for the United States — a definition that many migrant advocates and Democrats have long disputed.

FILE – The Most Rev. Mark Seitz, the Catholic bishop of El Paso, Texas, stands near supplies and clothes in a shelter for migrants on the grounds of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso in El Paso, Texas, on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. “Here in El Paso, we cannot get away with living the faith abstractly. We don’t say, ‘Show me your papers.’ As Christians we say, ‘How can I help you in your suffering?’” Seitz said. “This is not a political issue in the first instance, it’s about putting into practice what Jesus Christ taught through the Church.” (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)

Only about 3 in 10 Black Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated (or “nones”) say the large number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. is a “crisis,” although in each group, about 4 in 10 say it’s a “major problem.” Those saying it is not a problem are minorities in the single digits across denominations.

More revealing to policy options is the reason for the influx that Christians cited in the survey.

FILE – This combination of photos shows President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump during visits to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas both on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Fueled by unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers and illegal border crossings, immigration has risen to a top concern for Americans in the 2024 presidential election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Eric Gay, File)

When asked why they think large numbers of migrants are trying to cross the border, about 7 in 10 white Catholics and evangelicals said that the belief that U.S. immigration policies will make it easy to stay in the country once they arrive is a “major reason,” compared to 44% of the “nones” and 52% of Black Protestants. Both groups were more likely to cite violence in their home countries as a major reason why migrants are seeking to enter the U.S. At least 65% of all religious groups cited good economic opportunities in the U.S. as a “major reason.”

Among evangelicals, there is nuance in views about specific issues under the broader umbrella of migration, said Matthew Soerens, national coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table, an immigrant advocacy organization.

FILE – Church volunteers serve garlic bread to migrants camping outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

Most want more border security and respect for the rule of law, and there’s growing concern that immigration is an economic burden to the U.S., Soerens said. Yet he noted that even many evangelicals who voted for Trump in 2020 favor permanent legal status for Afghans and support refugee resettlement and a path for citizenship for those in the U.S. illegally.

“I think many Americans (and probably some Members of Congress) read evangelicals’ broad support for former President Trump in the primaries thus far as an unqualified affirmation of his immigration policy positions,” Soerens said via email.

FILE – A woman carries her child after she and other migrants crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico to be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

But he said his organization’s research and his experience with local churches suggests that evangelicals “actually have more nuanced views — absolutely wanting something done about the border … but also very open to more comprehensive immigration solutions including for the undocumented.”

Similarly, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy wing — the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission — said that increased enforcement and border security should be paired with more accessible legal pathways.

FILE – Migrants arrive at a gate in the border fence after crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas, in the early hours of Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

“But far too often, our toxic politics pit security and reform against one another, ensuring no action is taken while citizens, migrants, officers, border facilities, ministries, and local communities are all overwhelmed,” said ERLC leader Brent Leatherwood. “Too many leaders have made the calculation that this cost is acceptable so that partisan trench warfare can be waged. That’s not just a failure of leadership; it’s a failure to be humane.”

FILE – Migrants wake up at a campsite outside Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas on Tuesday morning, May 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

From tiny evangelical churches in Tucson, Arizona, or in Hialeah, Florida, to major faith-based aid organizations like Global Refuge, which was known until this year as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Christian groups across the country often take the lead in helping migrants with shelter, food, and legal as well as schooling assistance.

FILE – Reproductions of passports and clothes worn by migrants are placed on the arms of a cross at La Ermita, a shrine to the Virgin Mary built five decades ago by Cuban exiles, in Miami seen on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Miami. At bottom right is a sign with the Biblical verse, “You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers.” (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, File)

In Miami, a major destination city for migrants across the Caribbean and Latin America, many travel first to La Ermita, a shrine to the Virgin Mary built five decades ago by Cuban exiles — a growing community where Trump remains widely popular. Its rector has chosen migration as the meditation theme for this Lent, and two large crosses now flank the entrance, with reproductions of passports and clothes worn by migrants hanging on their arms.

Behind them, in English and Spanish, is an exhortation to pray for migrants and the Biblical verse “You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers.”

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