By Ryan FoleyChristian Post Reporter Saturday, March 09, 2024

Christians are more likely than their non-religious peers to view the record influx of illegal immigrants coming through America's southern border as a “crisis,” a new study suggests.

The data released by the Pew Research Center on Monday is based on responses collected from 5,140 adults from all 50 US states conducted between January 16 and 21. All respondents are members of Pew's online American Trends Panel and were recruited through a national, random sample of residential. addresses

The study examines Americans' thoughts on the current state of US immigration policy as the issue continues to be a major focus ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

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When asked about their views on “the large number of migrants trying to enter the United States at the border,” a plurality of respondents (45%) identified the situation as a “crisis,” while another 32% characterized the border surge as a “crisis.” “serious problem.” About 17% dismissed the rush at the border as 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 one-third (32%) of black Protestants believe the border growth constitutes a “crisis,” while an even smaller percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans (27%) said 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. In addition, the survey did not include large enough samples of other religious groups, such as Jews and Muslims, to analyze their responses to some of the questions in the survey.

While a majority of Americans (57%) agreed that the “large number of migrants seeking entry at the border with Mexico leads to more crime in the United States,” opinions on the impact of the border increase differed based 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 has been driving to more crime.

In contrast, less than half of respondents who identified as “nothing in particular” (47%) expressed concern that the limit increase caused an increase in crime. Similar shares of Hispanic Catholics (47%), black Protestants (43%) and the religiously unaffiliated (41%) said the same. The groups least likely to see a link between border growth and crime were agnostics (36%) and atheists (24%).

“The differences between religious groups on many of these questions are consistent with broader divisions between Republicans and Democrats,” reads the report authored by Pew Senior Writer Dalia Fahmy. “White Christians — especially white evangelical Protestants, but also white Catholics and white non-evangelical Protestants — mostly vote for Republican candidates. And far more Republicans than Democrats see the situation as a crisis and say the immigration increase is leading to increased crime.”

“In contrast, Black Protestants, Hispanic Catholics and religious 'nones' mostly vote Democratic,” adds Fahmy. “And Democrats are much less likely than Republicans to view the situation as a crisis or to say that immigration growth is increasing crime.”

Religious subgroups also differed in their views on why migrants came to the United States in the first place.

Majorities of Americans agreed that “good economic opportunities in the United States” (71%), “violence in their home countries” (65%), and “a belief that American immigration policies will make it easier to stay in. [the] country after they arrive” (58%) were the main factors attracting illegal immigrants to the United States

Majorities of all religious subgroups claim that “good economic opportunities in the United States” caused the increase at the border, with that belief most pronounced among agnostics (80%) and least prevalent among white evangelicals (65%). At least half of all religious subgroups claimed that migrants come to the United States to escape “violence in their home countries.” Agreement with that conclusion ranged from 50% among white evangelicals to 86% among atheists.

Although a majority of respondents pointed to US immigration policies as a “major reason” for the border increase, views on the role of immigration law differed greatly based on religious identification.

Strong majorities of white evangelicals (74%), white Catholics (69%), white non-evangelical Protestants (66%), Protestants (65%), Catholics (65%), and Hispanic Catholics (62%) thought that immigration policies that did more easy for immigrants to stay in the country endlessly spurred more migrants to travel to the United States

A slight majority of black Protestants (52%) also stated that US immigration policies influenced the decision of migrants to come to the US Less than half of adherents of all non-religious subgroups said the same. Less than half (48%) of respondents who classified themselves as “nothing in particular” attributed the limit increase to US immigration policy, followed by 44% of the religiously unaffiliated, 41% of agnostics and 31% of atheists.

Data by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shows record numbers of encounters between migrants seeking entry into the United States and border enforcement officials 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 entered the United States since February 2021, President Joe Biden's first full month in office. The increase in border crossings reflected negatively on Biden's approval rating on the issue of immigration.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls asking voters for their thoughts on Biden's handling of immigration since February 8 shows the president's approval rating 35.4 points underwater. By contrast, Biden's overall approval rating is 16.8 points underwater. Immigration is expected to be a major issue in the 2024 presidential election. Biden is likely to face off against former President Donald Trump, who sought to establish border fencing along the US southern border in his first term.