Christians are more likely than their nonreligious peers to view the record influx of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. southern border as a “crisis,” a new study suggests.
THE data released Monday by the Pew Research Center is based on responses collected from 5,140 adults in all 50 U.S. states between January 16 and 21. All respondents are members of Pew’s online American Trends Panel and were recruited through a national random residential sampling. addresses.
The study examines Americans’ thoughts on the current state of U.S. immigration policy, as the issue continues to be a focal point heading into the 2024 presidential election.
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When asked for their views on “the large number of migrants attempting to enter the United States through the border,” a plurality of respondents (45%) identified the situation as a “crisis,” while that another 32 percent called the influx of migrants at the border a “crisis.” “a major problem.” About 17% called the rush at the border a “minor problem,” while the remaining 4% thought it was “not a problem.”
The religious subgroup most likely to view the situation at the border as a “crisis” was white evangelicals (70%), followed by white Catholics (64%), white non-evangelical Protestants (57%), Protestants (57%) and Catholics (53%). Less than a third (32%) of black Protestants believe the border push constitutes a “crisis,” while an even smaller percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans (27%) think the same.
The survey did not include enough responses from Hispanic Catholics and subgroups of religiously unaffiliated Americans to allow a separate analysis of their beliefs about whether the border situation is a crisis. Additionally, the survey did not include large enough samples of other religious groups, such as Jews and Muslims, to analyze their responses to any of the survey questions.
While a majority of Americans (57%) agree that “the large number of migrants seeking to enter through the border with Mexico is leading to an increase in crime in the United States,” opinions on the impact of increase in the border differ depending on religious affiliation.
Solid majorities of white evangelical Protestants (82%), white Catholics (70%), white non-evangelical Protestants (69%), Protestants (68%), and Catholics (60%) believe that the large number of illegal immigrants flooding into the United States was due to the large number of illegal immigrants flooding into the United States. leading to more crime.
In contrast, less than half of respondents who answered “nothing in particular” (47%) expressed concern that the influx of people at the border is causing an increase in crime. Similar shares of Hispanic Catholics (47%), black Protestants (43%) and people with no religious affiliation (41%) said the same. The groups least likely to see a link between the sharp increase in borders and crime were agnostics (36%) and atheists (24%).
“Differences between religious groups on many of these issues correspond to broader divisions between Republicans and Democrats,” reads the report by Pew senior editor Dalia Fahmy. “White Christians – particularly white evangelical Protestants, but also white Catholics and white non-evangelical Protestants – vote overwhelmingly for Republican candidates. And far more Republicans than Democrats view the situation as a crisis and say the “Influx of migrants leads to an increase in crime.”
“In contrast, black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and the non-religious vote overwhelmingly Democratic,” adds Fahmy. “And Democrats are much less likely than Republicans to view the situation as a crisis or to say that the influx of migrants is increasing crime.”
Religious subgroups also differed in their views on why migrants came to the United States.
The majority of Americans believe that “good economic opportunities in the United States” (71%), “violence in their country of origin” (65%) and “the belief that American immigration policies will make it easier to stay in the country once they “arrive” (58%) were the main factors attracting illegal immigrants to the United States
Majorities of all religious subgroups say “good economic opportunities in the United States” are behind this push to the border, with this belief most pronounced among agnostics (80%) and least common among white evangelicals (65%). At least half of all religious subgroups said migrants came to the United States to escape “violence in their home countries.” Agreement with this conclusion ranged from 50% among white evangelicals to 86% among atheists.
Although a majority of respondents cited U.S. immigration policy as a “major reason” for the influx of people at the border, views on the role of immigration law diverge sharply depending on the country. religious identification.
Strong majorities of white evangelicals (74%), white Catholics (69%), white non-evangelical Protestants (66%), Protestants (65%), Catholics (65%), and Hispanic Catholics (62%) ) believed that immigration policies made it easier for immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, prompting more migrants to come to the United States
A slight majority of black Protestants (52%) also said U.S. immigration policies influenced migrants’ decisions to come to the United States. Less than half of adherents in all nonreligious subgroups said the same thing. Less than half (48%) of respondents who classified themselves as “nothing in particular” attributed increased borders to U.S. immigration policy, followed by 44% of nonreligious people, 41% of agnostics and 31% of atheists.
Data from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shows a record number of encounters between migrants seeking to enter the United States and border enforcement agents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The number of monthly crossings reached a record high of 301,983 in December 2023.
While the number of encounters fell to 176,205 in January 2024, more than 7 million migrants have entered the United States since February 2021, the first full month of President Joe Biden’s term. The increase in border crossings has had a negative impact on Biden’s approval rating on the issue of immigration.
THE RealClearPolitics Average Polls asking voters what they think of Biden’s handling of immigration since Feb. 8 show the president’s approval rating is 35.4 points underwater. On the other hand, that of Biden overall approval rating is 16.8 points underwater. Immigration is expected to be a major issue in the 2024 presidential election. Biden will likely face former President Donald Trump, who sought to build a fence along the U.S. southern border during his first term .
Ryan Foley is a journalist at the Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
