Back in 2013, creating a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants in the US was the rare issue that virtually all major American religious groups could agree on. The cause was so unifying that conservative evangelicals joined liberal leaders from other faiths that year to muster an unsuccessful but vibrant faith-based campaign to push Congress to pass immigration reform.
But according to a new poll from the Public Religion Research Institute, that united religious front on the issue may be a thing of the past.
In a survey released on Thursday, PRRI found that, while overall support for a pathway to citizenship has remained virtually unchanged between 2013 and 2021 (63 per cent to 62 per cent), some faith groups have undergone notable shifts. Support among white Catholics dropped from 62 per cent to 54 per cent, for example, and those who claim a non-Christian religion dipped from 68 per cent to 55 per cent.
‘Support for a Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants, 2013-2021, by Religious Affiliation’. GRAPHIC: Courtesy of PRRI
The most notable shift occurred among white evangelicals: In 2013, most of them (56 per cent) backed a pathway to citizenship in 2013, but now only 47 per cent say they support it today. That makes white evangelicals the only religious group without a majority who support a pathway to citizenship, a difference that widens when limited to those who attend religious services weekly or more (58 per cent to 45 per cent).
But while small downward shifts also occurred among white mainline Protestants (61 per cent to 59 per cent) and Hispanic Catholics (74 per cent to 70 per cent), some faith communities trended in the opposite direction. Black Protestants are now the most supportive religious group regarding a pathway to citizenship, rising from 70 per cent in 2013 to 75 per cent in 2021. Support among religiously unaffiliated Americans also increased to 69 per cent from 64 per cent.
Meanwhile, several major groups are now more likely to describe immigration as a “critical issue.” In 2013, it was a minority position among white evangelicals (38 per cent), white Catholics (36 per cent) and white mainline Protestants (32 per cent). But last year, majorities of all three said they see the issue as critical, with white Catholics topping the list (57 per cent).
Religiously unaffiliated groups barely changed how they gauge the importance of the issue in that same period, rising only two percentage points to 32 per cent.
‘Americans’ Views of Immigration as a Critical Issue, 2013-2021, by White Christian Groups and Religiously Unaffiliated Americans’. GRAPHIC: Courtesy of PRRI.
Among white evangelicals who do view immigration as a critical issue, only 34 per cent expressed support for allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements. They were more receptive (41 per cent) to allowing immigrants brought illegally to the US as children to gain legal status, a policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and hardline policies regarding immigrants were widely decried by religious liberals but often embraced by evangelical Protestants, who were some of his most stalwart supporters.
Trump’s attempt to “wind down” DACA, for instance, was condemned by myriad faith groups in 2017 but drew praise from some of his evangelical advisers.
In some ways, white evangelicals have remained the same, such as whether those surveyed agreed that “the growing number of newcomers from other countries strengthens American society.” White evangelicals remain the group least likely to say yes, barely shifting from 38 per cent to 35 per cent from 2011 to 2021.
The religiously unaffiliated, meanwhile, saw a marked shift and are now the group most likely to say immigrants strengthen society: Support shot up from 65 per cent to 74 per cent. An even more dramatic change took place among Black Protestants: While only 48 per cent agreed in 2011, 69 per cent do now.
