What percentage of us Christians still support Trump’s deportation policy
Executive summary
Available reporting does not give a single, definitive percentage of “U.S. Christians” who support President Trump’s mass-deportation proposals; instead multiple surveys and faith-group reports show a more complex picture: large majorities of white evangelical voters supported Trump in 2024 (about 80%), but specific polling cited by religious groups finds fewer than one in five evangelicals back deporting immigrants who have U.S. citizen spouses or children (less than 20%) [1] [2] [3]. Religious leaders warn roughly 1 in 12 U.S. Christians could be directly affected by proposed deportations, which complicates public and church responses [1] [4].
1. No single number — the data are fragmented and issue-specific
There is no single source in the provided reporting that states “X% of U.S. Christians support Trump’s deportation policy” outright. Instead, the coverage offers piecemeal findings: high Trump vote share among certain Christian demographics and separate polling on specific deportation scenarios [1] [2]. That means headline percentages (e.g., “X% of Christians back mass deportation”) are not supported by the available documents; the debate must be parsed by subgroup and by the deportation scenario in question [1] [2].
2. Evangelicals: high vote support for Trump, but narrower support for family separations
Reporting shows that about eight in ten white evangelical voters supported Trump in 2024, indicating strong political loyalty within that subgroup [1]. Yet Lifeway Research and related accounts show a starkly different picture when questions move from who to vote for to what to deport: “less than one-fifth of evangelicals support deporting immigrants who have spouses or children who are U.S. citizens” (under 20%) [2] [3]. That contrast demonstrates that electoral support for Trump among evangelicals does not map cleanly onto blanket endorsement of every immigration measure he proposes [1] [2].
3. Catholics and other Christians: mixed views and active institutional pushback
Catholic and some evangelical institutional leaders have organized against “mass deportation,” arguing both moral and practical harms; they compiled a report estimating that roughly 1 in 12 Christians in the U.S. could be directly vulnerable to deportation or live with someone who is (about 8–9%) — a statistic faith leaders use to press fellow believers to reconsider policy effects [4] [1]. The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops and allied evangelical groups publicly opposed “indiscriminate mass deportation,” showing organized religious resistance even where parishioner opinions may vary [5] [4].
4. Polling nuance: people distinguish “deportation of criminals” from family-targeted removals
The sources report a common pattern: many Christians—including evangelicals—express support for deporting convicted violent criminals and for “border security,” while showing far less support for policies that would remove people with U.S. citizen spouses or children, or for blanket mass removals [2] [6]. Lifeway’s work finds a substantial gap between general pro-enforcement attitudes and approval of specific, family-disrupting measures [2] [6].
5. Why the gap matters: churches, demographics and political messaging
Faith leaders argue the potential deportation actions would shrink congregations (a “church decline strategy”) and disproportionately affect co-religionists—report authors estimate more than 10 million Christian immigrants were vulnerable as of end-2024—so institutional opposition frames policy as both moral and self-interested for American churches [4] [1]. At the same time, political messaging and cultural alignment keep many voters in religious communities supporting Trump despite these institutional objections [4] [1].
6. What’s missing and why it shapes interpretation
Available sources do not offer a consolidated, nationally representative percentage that answers “what percentage of U.S. Christians still support Trump’s deportation policy” as a single figure; instead they provide vote-share data, subgroup polling on specific deportation scenarios, and advocacy reports estimating how many Christians could be affected [1] [2] [4]. That limitation means any headline number would risk misrepresenting contrasts between voting behavior, general attitudes about border security, and acceptance of family-separating deportations [2] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers
You cannot reduce Christian opinion to one percentage based on the reporting provided: political support for Trump among white evangelicals is high (about 80%), but specific polling shows relatively low support—under 20%—for deporting immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses or children; major Christian bodies and coalitions are publicly opposing mass deportations and warn of the policy’s impact on millions of co-religionists [1] [2] [4]. Any accurate account must distinguish between electoral loyalty, broad support for “border security,” and willingness to endorse family-targeted or mass deportations [2] [4].