Christian Nationalism and Immigration
Christian Nationalism and Immigration
Christian nationalism and immigration intersect around fundamental questions about national identity, citizenship, religion, race, cultural change, and the boundaries of belonging. Research collected on this subject shows that Christian nationalism is not simply a position on immigration policy. It is more broadly connected to ideas about what the United States is, who should be considered fully American, what cultural traditions define the nation, and how political institutions should respond to demographic and religious change.
A substantial body of social-science research finds an association between stronger adherence to Christian-nationalist ideas and more restrictive attitudes toward immigration. Studies have connected Christian nationalism with distrust of immigrants, perceptions of immigrants as cultural or national threats, opposition to some forms of refugee admission, support for restrictive immigration enforcement, and concern that immigration could transform the country's religious or cultural identity.
These relationships, however, are not uniform. The research repeatedly finds differences according to race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religious tradition, worship attendance, congregational environment, and other social characteristics. White, Black, and Hispanic Christians who express Christian-nationalist beliefs may differ considerably in their immigration attitudes. Evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Black Protestants, mainline Protestants, and other religious communities also display substantial internal differences.
The resulting picture is therefore more complicated than a simple conflict between Christians who favor immigration and Christians who oppose it. Immigration has become one arena in which competing understandings of Christianity, American identity, national sovereignty, pluralism, humanitarian responsibility, and cultural continuity confront one another.
Christian Nationalism, National Identity, and Belonging
One of the central themes in the research is the relationship between Christian nationalism and definitions of American identity. Christian nationalism generally links American nationhood with Christianity more strongly than conventional religious belief or ordinary Christian participation in politics.
Immigration becomes particularly important within this framework because newcomers can raise questions about language, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, assimilation, and cultural continuity. Research on Christian nationalism frequently examines whether Americans understand national membership primarily in civic terms, such as citizenship and commitment to democratic institutions, or also associate being American with particular religious, racial, or cultural characteristics.
Studies of Christian nationalism have found relationships between stronger Christian-nationalist identification and narrower conceptions of national belonging. Some research describes this as the construction of social boundaries between perceived national insiders and outsiders. Immigrants, Muslims, refugees, and other religious or ethnic minorities can become symbols within these broader debates about who belongs to the national community.
Research also suggests that attitudes toward immigration cannot be separated easily from broader changes in American society. Immigration since the mid-twentieth century has contributed to increasing racial, ethnic, and religious diversity. At the same time, the proportion of Americans belonging to historically dominant white Christian traditions has declined. These demographic developments provide an important background for contemporary debates about Christian nationalism.
Immigration, Threat, and Cultural Change
A recurring finding in the literature is an association between Christian nationalism and perceptions of immigrants as threatening to established social or cultural arrangements.
Researchers have examined several kinds of perceived threat. These include concerns about employment and public resources, crime and security, cultural assimilation, political influence, religious change, racial demographics, and the future character of the nation.
Some studies conclude that perceived cultural threat is particularly important. Christian nationalism has been associated with greater distrust of immigrants and with concerns that newcomers may alter American identity. Research has also linked Christian-nationalist beliefs with unfavorable stereotypes about undocumented immigrants and, in some studies, with greater willingness to support restrictive immigration policies.
This relationship should not be interpreted as meaning that every concern about immigration or border enforcement constitutes Christian nationalism. Some scholars and Christian commentators specifically caution against using the term so broadly that conventional disagreements over immigration levels, border enforcement, asylum procedures, national sovereignty, or economic policy are automatically classified as Christian nationalist.
The distinction generally turns on whether immigration policy is connected to a larger conception of the United States as a nation whose authentic identity should be defined or protected through a particular form of Christianity.
Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Nationalism
Race is another major theme in the literature on Christian nationalism and immigration.
Historical scholarship places contemporary debates within a much longer history in which American citizenship, immigration, religion, and racial classification frequently overlapped. Restrictions on immigration at different periods were influenced by assumptions about which racial, ethnic, and religious groups could assimilate into American society.
Contemporary scholarship similarly examines connections among Christian nationalism, white racial identity, demographic change, and immigration attitudes. Some studies find that Christian nationalism interacts with white racial solidarity or perceptions that established groups are losing social status.
Recent research also demonstrates why Christian nationalism should not automatically be treated as identical to white Christian nationalism. Christian-nationalist ideas occur among Americans of several racial and ethnic backgrounds, but their political and social consequences may differ.
Studies comparing white, Black, and Hispanic respondents have found significant racial differences in how Christian-nationalist beliefs relate to immigration attitudes. Research therefore increasingly distinguishes between the existence of Christian-nationalist beliefs and the different ways those beliefs interact with racial identity, political identity, and perceptions of social threat.
Demographic Change and Replacement Theory
Debates over immigration sometimes overlap with beliefs that existing populations are being deliberately or unintentionally displaced by newcomers.
One form of this argument is commonly described as "replacement theory." It generally holds that demographic, political, or cultural elites are allowing or encouraging immigration in ways that will reduce the political or cultural influence of native-born populations.
Research included in the source material examines correlations between Christian-nationalist identification and agreement with some versions of demographic-replacement claims. These beliefs are often connected to broader concerns about racial change, declining Christian affiliation, immigration, and changing definitions of American identity.
The demographic context is significant. Immigration has contributed to increasing racial and religious diversity in the United States, while the percentage of Americans identifying with historically dominant white Christian traditions has declined. Scholars disagree about how individuals interpret these changes, but research on cultural and status threat suggests that perceived loss of social dominance can influence political responses to immigration and demographic transformation.
Replacement beliefs therefore represent one point where research on immigration, race, nationalism, religion, and political identity converges.
Evangelical Christians and Immigration
White evangelical Protestant attitudes toward immigration receive substantial attention in the literature.
Survey research has often found white evangelicals expressing more restrictive immigration attitudes than several other American religious groups. Researchers have attempted to explain this pattern through combinations of theology, race, political partisanship, cultural conservatism, media consumption, perceptions of national identity, and attitudes toward demographic change.
The relationship between evangelical Christianity and immigration is nevertheless complicated.
Evangelical organizations and leaders have periodically advocated immigration reform, refugee assistance, humanitarian protections, and legal status for undocumented immigrants. Biblical arguments emphasizing hospitality toward foreigners and care for vulnerable people have also been prominent within evangelical immigration advocacy.
Research consequently describes a tension between religious teachings encouraging concern for migrants and political identities that may favor stronger immigration restrictions.
The evangelical population itself is also racially and ethnically diverse. Latino, Black, Asian, immigrant, and white evangelical communities do not necessarily hold the same attitudes toward immigration. Studies that separate these populations often find substantial differences obscured by the broad label "evangelical."
Congregations, Religious Practice, and Political Identity
Religious affiliation alone does not determine immigration attitudes.
Studies of congregations show that worship attendance, clergy messages, racial diversity within congregations, interpersonal contact with immigrants, theological commitments, and political identification can all influence attitudes.
Some research has found that regular religious participation can moderate the association between Christian nationalism and negative attitudes toward immigrants. Other work suggests that exposure to religious leaders advocating immigration reform can influence attitudes, although partisan identity may sometimes limit the impact of religious messages.
Congregations also function as important institutions of immigrant incorporation. Churches and other religious organizations can provide social networks, language assistance, employment connections, charitable services, political advocacy, and opportunities for immigrants to participate in American civic life.
Immigration therefore changes American religion at the same time that religion influences American attitudes toward immigration.
Catholicism and Immigration
Catholic approaches to immigration provide another important contrast within the broader Christian debate.
Catholic social teaching generally recognizes the authority of governments to regulate borders while simultaneously emphasizing human dignity, family unity, protection of refugees, humanitarian obligations, and the rights of migrants.
Catholic institutions in the United States have played prominent roles in refugee resettlement, migrant assistance, asylum advocacy, and immigration reform campaigns.
These positions have sometimes created political tensions between Catholic leaders and Catholics who favor more restrictive immigration policies. Immigration therefore illustrates the distinction between official religious teaching and the political attitudes of individual believers.
The history of American Catholicism also demonstrates the changing nature of religious boundaries. Catholics themselves were once widely portrayed by some Protestant Americans as religious and cultural outsiders. Later waves of Catholic immigration from Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere have further transformed both American Catholicism and national debates about immigration.
Refugees, Asylum, and Humanitarian Obligations
Refugee policy is another area where Christian nationalism and competing Christian ethical traditions frequently intersect.
Research on Syrian refugees and other displaced populations has documented large political and religious differences in public attitudes toward refugee admission. Concerns about terrorism, cultural integration, Islam, and national security have often contributed to opposition to refugee resettlement.
Christian humanitarian organizations, by contrast, have frequently framed refugee assistance in terms of biblical obligations toward strangers, persecuted people, and displaced families.
Experimental research included in the source material suggests that explicitly Christian moral framing can, under some circumstances, increase support for refugees among people who would otherwise be politically predisposed toward greater restrictions.
These competing responses illustrate a broader divide within Christian political thought between emphasis on national sovereignty and security and emphasis on universal religious obligations toward vulnerable people.
Muslims, Immigration, and Religious Boundaries
American debates over Muslim immigration demonstrate how immigration policy can overlap with religious identity.
Public attitudes toward Muslims have been shaped by concerns about terrorism, assimilation, religious difference, and national security. Research on Christian nationalism has frequently examined whether identifying America with Christianity contributes to perceptions that Muslim immigrants are less compatible with American identity.
Studies of Muslim Americans, however, generally portray a diverse population with substantial levels of identification with the United States and participation in American social and economic life. Muslim immigration has also contributed to the broader religious diversification of the country.
The debate therefore concerns more than immigration alone. It raises the question of whether American national identity is understood as explicitly Christian or as a civic identity capable of incorporating citizens from many religious traditions.
Immigration Enforcement, Deportation, and Civil Liberties
Contemporary research increasingly examines Christian nationalism in relation to immigration enforcement.
Issues include deportation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, detention, asylum restrictions, border enforcement, birthright citizenship, due process, and the treatment of undocumented immigrants.
Survey research finds substantial differences between Christian-nationalist Adherents, Sympathizers, Skeptics, and Rejecters on several of these questions. The differences also vary significantly according to race and religious tradition.
Researchers have additionally examined whether strong in-group identification influences willingness to apply legal protections equally to insiders and outsiders. This connects immigration policy to broader questions about rule of law, citizenship, civil liberties, and equal treatment.
At the same time, support for stronger immigration enforcement does not by itself establish adherence to Christian nationalism. Immigration enforcement can be supported for many secular, economic, security, legal, or institutional reasons. The Christian-nationalist dimension becomes more relevant when immigration enforcement is connected explicitly to preserving a Christian national identity or protecting a religiously defined cultural order.
Competing Christian Interpretations of Immigration
The source material reveals substantial theological disagreement over immigration.
Some Christian interpretations emphasize the legitimacy of political communities, national borders, law, citizenship, and the government's responsibility to protect its population. These perspectives can support substantial immigration restrictions while maintaining that migrants should be treated humanely.
Other Christian interpretations emphasize biblical commands concerning strangers, foreigners, refugees, hospitality, compassion, and human dignity. These perspectives frequently support refugee resettlement, pathways to legal status, family reunification, and protections for undocumented migrants.
Still other approaches attempt to balance these principles by recognizing both national sovereignty and obligations toward migrants.
This theological diversity is important because Christianity does not provide a single political position on immigration. Christian arguments appear on several sides of immigration debates, and religious texts and traditions are interpreted differently by different communities.
Immigration and the Transformation of American Religion
Immigration does not merely produce political reactions among existing religious communities. It also transforms those communities.
Post-1965 immigration has contributed substantially to the growth of Latino Catholicism, Latino evangelicalism, Asian Christian communities, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and numerous other religious traditions in the United States.
Immigrant congregations often serve both as institutions preserving cultural identity and as pathways toward social and political incorporation. They connect immigrants to employment, education, social networks, charitable assistance, political participation, and broader American institutions.
This transformation complicates narratives that describe immigration simply as reducing Christianity's influence. Many immigrants are themselves Christians, and immigration has become an important source of growth for some American Christian traditions.
The result is a changing religious landscape in which Christianity may become more racially and ethnically diverse even as the proportion of Americans identifying as Christian changes.
Broader Historical Context
Contemporary debates over Christian nationalism and immigration have historical precedents.
American immigration politics has repeatedly involved disputes over which populations could become fully American. Catholics, Jews, Asians, southern and eastern Europeans, Muslims, and other groups have at various times encountered arguments that their religion, ethnicity, culture, or political loyalties made assimilation difficult.
Religious ideas also played contradictory historical roles. Christianity was sometimes invoked to defend racial hierarchy, Anglo-Protestant cultural dominance, or exclusionary immigration policies. At other times, religious organizations became important advocates for immigrants, refugees, abolition, civil rights, and broader concepts of citizenship.
Contemporary Christian nationalism therefore operates within a longer history of attempts to define the relationship among religion, race, citizenship, and American national identity.
Conclusion
Research on Christian nationalism and immigration points to a relationship that extends well beyond debates about the number of immigrants who should enter the United States or the appropriate level of border enforcement.
At its center is a dispute over national identity: whether being American is primarily a civic and political status or whether national belonging should also reflect particular religious, racial, ethnic, or cultural traditions.
A substantial body of research associates stronger Christian-nationalist beliefs with greater distrust of immigrants, stronger perceptions of cultural threat, and support for some restrictive immigration policies. Other research demonstrates that these patterns vary significantly according to race, ethnicity, political affiliation, religious tradition, congregational participation, and personal contact with immigrants.
The evidence also shows that Christianity itself does not produce a single immigration position. Christian organizations and believers range from advocates of restrictive border policies to some of the country's most active defenders of refugees and immigrants. Evangelical, Catholic, mainline Protestant, Black Protestant, immigrant Christian, and other communities frequently approach the issue differently.
Immigration consequently provides a particularly revealing case for understanding Christian nationalism. It brings together debates over sovereignty, citizenship, race, demographic change, religious pluralism, national identity, humanitarian responsibility, and the meaning of Christianity in American public life.
Christian Nationalism and Immigration — Direct Research
1. | Christopher H. Seto | Sociology of Religion | May 24, 2026
In God We Trust: Christian Nationalism, Political and Ethno-Racial Identities, and Distrust of Immigrants. Analyzes survey data from 1,894 Americans and finds Christian nationalism associated with greater distrust of immigrants, with the relationship varying by political affiliation and race.
2. | Joseph O. Baker and colleagues | Nations and Nationalism | April 2026
Faith over Fear? Christian Nationalism and Cultural Fears in the United States. Finds Christian nationalism associated with heightened fears concerning immigrants, Muslims, racial replacement, and other perceived cultural threats.
3. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 30, 2026
How Christian Nationalism Affects Views on Immigration. Uses PRRI's 2025 American Values Atlas to compare Christian nationalism Adherents, Sympathizers, Skeptics, and Rejecters on immigration, deportation, due process, ICE, perceptions of immigrants, and replacement theory. The report also documents substantial racial differences among white, Black, and Hispanic Christian nationalists.
4. | Anna Caroline Kinney | Walden University | January 2026
Predicting Perceived Immigrant Threat to National Identity Based on Christian Nationalism, White Racial Centrality, and Social Dominance Orientation. Dissertation comparing Christian nationalism and other psychological or racial-identity predictors of perceptions that immigrants threaten American national identity.
Religion Is Sometimes Raced: Christian Nationalism as In-Group Protection. Uses oversamples of Black, Latino, and white Christians to investigate racial differences in Christian nationalism and policy attitudes, including racialized questions involving immigration.
6. | Nilay Saiya | Politics and Religion | May 13, 2025
The Varieties of American Christian Nationalism. Distinguishes several strands of Christian nationalism and discusses common political concerns, including immigration, despite important theological differences among the movements.
7. | Samuel L. Perry and Joshua B. Grubbs | Social Forces | February 23, 2025
The Religion of White Identity Politics: Christian Nationalism and White Racial Solidarity. Examines connections among Christian nationalism, white racial identity, group solidarity, exclusion, and political preferences, including attitudes toward Mexican immigration.
8. | Paul A. Djupe and colleagues | Politics and Religion | 2024
The Ingroup Love and Outgroup Hate of Christian Nationalism: Experimental Evidence About the Implementation of the Rule of Law. Examines whether Christian nationalism and perceptions of Christian persecution affect willingness to apply legal protections differently to insiders and outsiders.
9. | Samuel L. Perry and Kenneth E. Frantz | The Sociological Quarterly | July 7, 2023
Our Kind of American: Christian Nationalism, Race, and Contingent Views of Cultural Membership. Studies how Christian nationalism, racial identity, assimilation, exclusion, and attitudes toward immigrants interact among white, Black, and Hispanic Americans.
What Do We Owe Strangers? A chapter in The Everyday Crusade examining immigration through the authors' concept of American religious exceptionalism and analyzing cultural boundaries surrounding national membership.
11. | Philip Barker | Politics and Religion Journal | 2022
Immigration and Religious Nationalism in Europe. Examines immigration, Muslim demographic change, religiosity, nationalism, and Christian national identity in European countries, offering comparative context for American Christian nationalism.
12. | Samuel Stroope, Heather M. Rackin, and Paul Froese | Socius | February 16, 2021
Christian Nationalism and Views of Immigrants in the United States: Is the Relationship Stronger for the Religiously Inactive? Finds Christian nationalism associated with less favorable views of undocumented Mexican immigrants while regular religious attendance moderates that association.
Protecting America's Borders: Christian Nationalism, Threat, and Attitudes Toward Immigrants in the United States. Four studies find Christian nationalism predicts anti-immigrant stereotypes, prejudice, dehumanization, and support for restrictive policies, with perceived threat helping explain the relationship.
14. | Breanne Leigh Grace and Katie Heins | Ethnic and Racial Studies | June 2, 2020
Redefining Refugee: White Christian Nationalism in State Politics and Beyond. Examines public testimony surrounding South Carolina anti-refugee legislation and analyzes how race, religion, terrorism, national identity, and refugee status were rhetorically interconnected.
15. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | March 19, 2020
Boundaries. Examines Christian nationalism's relationship with race, ethnicity, citizenship, immigration, nativism, and religious diversity.
16. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | March 19, 2020
Power. Examines Christian nationalism in relation to immigration, refugees, political identity, and support for Donald Trump.
17. | Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2020
Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. Book-length empirical study connecting Christian nationalism with political power, social boundaries, immigration attitudes, race, religion, sexuality, and American identity.
18. | Darren E. Sherkat and Derek Lehman | Social Science Quarterly | September 26, 2018
Bad Samaritans: Religion and Anti-Immigrant and Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the United States. Examines religious affiliation, biblical literalism, Christian nationalism, and attitudes toward immigrants and Muslims.
Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. Finds Christian nationalism predicted voting behavior independently of several measures including anti-immigrant sentiment and attitudes toward Muslim refugees.
Divine Boundaries: How Religion Shapes Citizens' Attitudes Toward Immigrants. An early empirical study conceptualizing Christian nationalism as a religiously informed understanding of American identity and finding it a significant predictor of immigrant animus.
Immigration, National Identity, and Belonging
21. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | June 23, 2026
What Is America? Immigration, National Identity, and Belonging. Examines Christian nationalism, birthright citizenship, deportation, replacement theory, and competing definitions of American identity.
22. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | March 26, 2026
Immigration Enforcement, ICE, and Civil Liberties in the Second Trump Administration. Breaks immigration attitudes down by political affiliation, religious tradition, and Christian-nationalist identification.
23. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 2026
Mapping Christian Nationalism Across the 50 States: Insights from PRRI's 2025 American Values Atlas. Includes national and state-level analysis of Christian nationalism alongside replacement theory, immigration enforcement, deportation, citizenship, and authoritarianism.
24. | Gregory A. Smith et al. | Pew Research Center | February 26, 2025
Religion and Views on Immigration and Diversity. Compares major American religious traditions on immigration, openness to newcomers, religious diversity, and national identity.
25. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2025
Trump's Unprecedented Actions Deepen Asymmetric Divides. Includes comparisons of Christian nationalism categories on whether immigrants strengthen society and whether immigration constitutes demographic replacement.
26. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2024
Challenges to Democracy: The 2024 Election in Focus. Includes measures of Christian nationalism, perceptions of immigrants, community burden, replacement theory, authoritarianism, and political identity.
27. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2024
One Leader Under God: The Connection Between Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism in America. Connects Christian-nationalist categories with authoritarian attitudes and views about immigration and demographic replacement.
28. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | May 25, 2022
Belief in 'The Great Replacement' Is Not Fringe Among Conservatives. Examines the relationship among immigration-related replacement beliefs, Christian-nationalist ideas, religion, party identification, and media consumption.
29. | Laura Alexander | Public Religion Research Institute | March 30, 2022
Immigration in the 2021 American Values Survey: Religious Diversity and the Contact Hypothesis. Shows considerable differences among Christian communities on citizenship and immigration despite a shared broad Christian identity.
30. | Gregory A. Smith | Pew Research Center | April 25, 2006
Attitudes Toward Immigration: In the Pulpit and the Pew. Finds important differences between religious leaders and congregants and shows that frequent worship attendance was associated with more favorable immigration views within several Christian traditions.
Evangelicals and Immigration
31. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 4, 2024
U.S. Christians More Likely Than 'Nones' to Say Border Situation Is a Crisis. Compares evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Black Protestants, other Christians, and religiously unaffiliated adults on causes and perceptions of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
32. | Christianity Today Staff | Christianity Today | February 2024
More Evangelicals See Immigrants as a Threat and Economic Drain. Reports survey findings on evangelical attitudes toward immigration and the relative influence of Scripture, media, politicians, churches, personal relationships, and immigrants themselves.
Jesus Was a Refugee: Religious Values Framing Can Increase Support for Refugees Among White Evangelical Republicans. Experimental research testing whether explicitly Christian moral framing can alter refugee policy attitudes.
34. | Oindrila Roy | Politics and Religion | August 24, 2023
Evangelical Attitudes Toward Syrian Refugees: Are Evangelicals Distinctive in Their Opposition to Syrian Refugees to the United States? Examines evangelical opinion toward Syrian refugees and finds Muslim stereotypes help explain opposition.
35. | Craig Ott and Juan Carlos Téllez | Missiology | 2019
The Paradox of American Evangelical Views on Immigration: A Review of the Empirical Research. Reviews research on why white evangelicals historically expressed comparatively restrictive immigration attitudes despite biblical and denominational teachings encouraging care for immigrants.
36. | Hannah Hartig | Pew Research Center | May 24, 2018
GOP Views of Accepting Refugees to U.S. Turn More Negative as Admissions Plummet. Includes substantial differences among white evangelical Protestants and other religious groups regarding America's responsibility to admit refugees.
37. | Kristin Kobes Du Mez | Harvard Divinity Bulletin | 2018
Understanding White Evangelical Views on Immigration. Examines cultural, political, theological, and gender-related influences on white evangelical immigration attitudes.
38. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 29, 2015
Mixed Views of Initial U.S. Response to Europe's Migrant Crisis. Breaks support for refugee admissions down by political, demographic, educational, racial, and religious categories.
39. | Bruce Drake | Pew Research Center | April 24, 2013
Majority of White Evangelicals Back Way for Unauthorized Immigrants to Stay in U.S. Shows that evangelical attitudes cannot be reduced to simple opposition: majorities supported legal status for qualifying undocumented immigrants while expressing greater cultural concerns about immigration than the overall public.
40. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 17, 2010
Few Say Religion Shapes Immigration, Environment Views. Examines differences in immigration attitudes by religious tradition, clergy messaging, congregation composition, and worship attendance.
Christian Responses and Theological Conflict
41. | Christianity Today | Christianity Today | May 2026
Not Everything Is Christian Nationalism. Offers a caution against labeling every conservative concern over immigration, sovereignty, asylum, pluralism, or cultural integration as Christian nationalism.
42. | Amar D. Peterman | Sojourners | December 5, 2025
Christian Nationalism's Power Rests on a Simple Proposition: No Questions. Examines religious imagery, immigration enforcement, ICE messaging, militarization, and Christian-nationalist political rhetoric.
43. | Journal of Law and Religion Editors | Journal of Law and Religion | 2025
Law, Christianity, and Racial Justice: Shaping the Future. Introduces scholarship addressing Christianity, racial justice, law, and immigration, including racial disparities in immigration enforcement.
44. | Kristen Thomason | Baptist News Global | July 22, 2024
The Theology Behind the Christian Nationalist View on Immigration. An explicitly critical theological analysis of Christian-nationalist arguments about borders, neighbors, law, ethnicity, and migration.
45. | Kristin E. Heyer | Oxford Handbook of Religion and Contemporary Migration | February 22, 2024
Christian Responses to Migration Along the U.S.-Mexican Border. Surveys Christian humanitarianism, advocacy, political opposition, border enforcement, Catholic social thought, nationalism, and competing Christian interpretations of migration.
46. | Donald Kerwin | Journal of Law and Religion | 2024
The Trials and Consolations of Migrant-Serving Faith-Based Organizations. Discusses Christian humanitarian organizations alongside ethno-cultural nationalism, Christian nationalism, immigration enforcement, and exclusionary understandings of national membership.
47. | Lisa Jacob | Sojourners | 2024
How Christians Can Counter Christian Nationalism. Describes Christian organizing that treats immigration narratives as one arena in which Christian nationalism operates.
48. | Paul D. Miller | Christianity Today | February 2021
What Is Christian Nationalism? Defines Christian nationalism from a conservative Christian perspective and distinguishes it from conventional Christian political participation, including discussion of immigration restrictions intended to preserve particular religious or ethnic demographics.
49. | Christianity Today | Christianity Today | April 2019
Repenting of Identity Politics. Critiques Christian nationalism while distinguishing border enforcement from a narrowly ethno-religious conception of nationhood.
50. | Baptist News Global | Baptist News Global | 2013
Perspectives on Immigration: Cultural Concerns. Discusses research connecting evangelical immigration attitudes with cultural concerns and beliefs about America's Christian origins.
Immigration Enforcement, Politics, and Christian Nationalism
51. | American Public Television | PBS | September 1, 2026
Who's the We? Documentary following pastor Doug Pagitt along the U.S.-Mexico border, examining immigrants, aid workers, Christian nationalists, fear, religion, border politics, and competing definitions of American belonging.
52. | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | March 26, 2026
Survey: Support for Trump's Handling of Immigration Craters With All Faith Groups. Reports PRRI findings connecting Christian-nationalist identification with immigration attitudes while noting important differences among white evangelical, Hispanic Protestant, Catholic, and other religious populations.
53. | Religion News Service | National Catholic Reporter | March 2026
Survey: Support for Trump's Immigration Agenda Craters With All Faith Groups. Examines religion, Christian nationalism, replacement theory, ICE funding, and immigration enforcement.
54. | Avery Lotz | Axios | February 18, 2026
Where Christian Nationalism Is Most Dominant in U.S. States. Summarizes PRRI state-level findings and their relationship to immigration, replacement theory, deportation policy, Republican politics, and executive authority.
55. | National Catholic Reporter Staff | National Catholic Reporter | 2026
Immigration and the Church. Continuing series documenting Catholic and other Christian reactions to ICE, detention facilities, deportation, immigration enforcement, and Christian nationalism.
56. | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service / National Catholic Reporter | September 30, 2024
Vance, at Christian Nationalist Revival, Says Immigration Stance Is in Keeping With Faith. Reports JD Vance's theological defense of immigration restriction at an event led by Christian nationalist preacher Lance Wallnau and includes dissenting Christian perspectives.
57. | PBS | To the Contrary | 2024
How Project 2025 Impacts the Separation of Church and State. Discussion includes Christian nationalism, immigrant rights, refugee policy, the Trump travel ban, and religious discrimination.
58. | Jeannie Suk Gersen | The New Yorker | March 2023
How Christian Is Christian Nationalism? Reviews scholarship connecting Christian nationalism with heritage identity, whiteness, immigration restriction, and anxiety about demographic change.
59. | Bob Smietana | The Washington Post | January 6, 2023
Who Are the Christian Nationalists? A Taxonomy for the Post-Jan. 6 World. Describes several networks associated with Christian nationalism and discusses immigration as one of the issues around which definitions and self-identification diverge.
60. | George Hawley | Brookings Institution | 2019
Ambivalent Nativism: Trump Supporters' Attitudes Toward Islam and Muslim Immigration. Qualitative analysis of how Trump supporters understood Islam, immigration, national identity, Christianity, and demographic change.
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
61. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | August 2026
Progressive Christian Mobilization and the Discourse of White Christian Nationalism. Qualitative examination of Christians organizing against Christian nationalism, including concerns about racial exclusion, immigration, and replacement rhetoric.
62. | Sophie Bjork-James | Cambridge University Press | April 22, 2026
Feeling at Home in Christian Nationalism. Examines whiteness, evangelicalism, assimilation, immigration history, cultural norms, gender, and Christian-nationalist identity.
63. | Paul A. Djupe and Brooklyn Walker | Politics and Religion | March 26, 2026
The Weakness of Anti-Christian Nationalism: When Religiously Inclusive Orientations Can't Increase Tolerance. Studies the interaction between Christian-nationalist and pluralist ideas in shaping tolerance toward political and social outgroups, including immigrants.
64. | Keitaro Okura | American Journal of Sociology | March 16, 2026
Red and Blue Immigrants: Political (Mis)Alignment, Immigration Attitudes, and the Boundaries of American National Inclusion. Examines how perceptions of immigrants' future political identities affect judgments about deservingness and national inclusion.
65. | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge University Press | 2026
Civil Religion and the Renewal of American Politics. Review discussing how immigration after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 increased America's religious diversity and affected conceptions of civic identity.
66. | Daniel D. Miller | Cambridge University Press | March 7, 2025
Christian Nationalism. Overview chapter situating contemporary Christian nationalism within the broader religious and political development of North America.
Association Between Dimensions of National Identity and Immigration Attitudes: A Meta-Analysis. Synthesizes 151 studies concerning nationalism, national pride, national identification, definitions of national identity, and immigration attitudes.
68. | Political scientists | Politics and Religion | 2024
Division on the Christian Right: Republican Pastors and the Use of Force. Examines Christian nationalism, perceptions of demographic and cultural threat, and divisions among politically conservative clergy.
Immigrant Perceptions of U.S.-Born Receptivity and the Shaping of American Identity. Examines how race, skin color, religion, language, and perceptions of welcome influence immigrants' identification as American.
70. | R. Khari Brown and Ronald E. Brown | Race and Social Problems | February 2017
Race, Religion, and Immigration Policy Attitudes. Examines race, congregational political communication, religious participation, and attitudes toward restrictive immigration policies.
Refugees, Muslims, and Religious Boundaries
71. | Phillip Connor and Jens Manuel Krogstad | Pew Research Center | October 12, 2017
U.S. Resettles Fewer Refugees, Even as Global Number of Displaced People Grows. Provides historical and demographic context on U.S. refugee admissions and the religious composition of refugees.
72. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | October 12, 2017
Detailed Religious Affiliation by Broader Religious Affiliation: U.S. Refugees. Data on Christian, Muslim, and other religious identities among refugees admitted to the United States.
73. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 26, 2017
How the U.S. General Public Views Muslims and Islam. Provides context for research linking Christian nationalism, Muslim stereotypes, immigration, and refugee policy.
74. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 26, 2017
U.S. Muslims Concerned About Their Place in Society, but Continue to Believe in the American Dream. Provides immigrant and Muslim perspectives relevant to debates over Christian national identity.
75. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | February 16, 2017
Americans Express Increasingly Warm Feelings Toward Religious Groups. Useful background on attitudes toward Muslims and other religious minorities during debates over refugee and immigration restrictions.
76. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | February 2017
Americans Divided Over Whether Islam Is More Likely Than Other Religions to Encourage Violence. Relevant to studies showing perceptions of Muslims influence support for immigration and refugee restrictions.
77. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | November 2015
Majority of Americans Oppose Admitting Syrian Refugees. Documents partisan, religious, and demographic divisions during the Syrian refugee controversy.
78. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | August 30, 2011
Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism. Useful empirical background for assessing claims about Muslim immigrants and assimilation.
79. | Brookings Institution | Brookings Institution | 2010s
American Muslims and the Challenge of Assimilation. Background for debates over religious assimilation, national identity, immigration, and Muslim inclusion.
80. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 22, 2007
Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream. Early national survey of Muslim-American identity, integration, immigration experience, and attitudes toward the United States.
Great Replacement, Demography, and Cultural Threat
81. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2025
Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States: Insights from PRRI's 2024 American Values Atlas. Updates geographic and demographic patterns in Christian nationalism and associated social attitudes.
82. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 28, 2024
Support for Christian Nationalism in All 50 States. State-level survey analysis linking Christian nationalism with racial attitudes, immigration, demographic replacement, and political behavior.
83. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | February 15, 2024
How Americans View the Situation at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Its Causes and Consequences. Broad survey providing context for religious and Christian-nationalist interpretations of contemporary border politics.
84. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | February 2023
A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture. Establishes PRRI's Christian-nationalism categories and analyzes correlations with demographic, racial, immigration, and political attitudes.
85. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2021
Competing Visions of America: An Evolving Identity or a Culture Under Attack? Examines immigration, race, religion, demographic change, replacement beliefs, national identity, and competing interpretations of American culture.
86. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2021
Immigration After Trump. Reviews American immigration opinion and its intersections with race, religion, political identity, deportation, citizenship, and demographic change.
87. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 14, 2019
Majority of Americans Say Immigrants Mostly Fill Jobs U.S. Citizens Do Not Want. Provides economic and cultural immigration attitudes useful for separating material concerns from identity-based explanations.
88. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | January 16, 2019
Most Border Wall Opponents, Republican Supporters Say Shutdown Concessions Are Unacceptable. Background on the border-wall dispute that became intertwined with cultural, partisan, and religious-nationalist politics.
89. | PRRI Staff | Public Religion Research Institute | 2019
American Democracy in Crisis: The Fate of Pluralism in a Divided Nation. Examines immigration, national identity, racial and religious diversity, political polarization, and perceptions that American culture is under threat.
90. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | June 28, 2018
Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S. Documents changing public opinion about legal immigration during a period of intensified national debate.
Broader Historical and Political Context
91. | Andrew L. Whitehead | Brazos Press | 2023
American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church. Christian sociologist Andrew Whitehead combines social-science research with theological criticism of Christian nationalism, including its boundaries around race, immigration, and national belonging.
92. | Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | 2022
The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy. Historical and sociological account of the racial, religious, and national narratives underlying contemporary white Christian nationalism, including attitudes toward outsiders and immigration.
93. | Eric L. McDaniel, Irfan Nooruddin, and Allyson F. Shortle | Cambridge University Press | 2022
The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics. Develops the concept of American religious exceptionalism and examines how it structures attitudes concerning immigrants, immigration levels, assimilation, citizenship, Muslims, and the cultural boundaries of American identity.
94. | Robert P. Jones | Simon & Schuster | 2020
White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. Historical examination of race and white Christianity relevant to scholarship linking race, national identity, and Christian nationalism.
95. | Ashley Jardina | University of Chicago Press | 2019
White Identity Politics. Examines the emergence of white group consciousness and perceived demographic threat, concepts increasingly incorporated into Christian-nationalism research.
96. | Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart | Princeton University Press | 2019
Cultural Backlash. Comparative account of authoritarian populism, demographic change, immigration, traditional values, and cultural threat.
97. | Diana C. Mutz | Harvard University Press | 2018
Status Threat, Not Economic Hardship, Explains the 2016 Presidential Vote. Research emphasizing perceived status loss and social change as explanations for political behavior associated with immigration and demographic change.
98. | Ronald Inglehart | Cambridge University Press | 2018
Cultural Evolution. Provides broader comparative theory concerning value change, immigration, religion, demographic transformation, and cultural backlash.
99. | Robert P. Jones | Simon & Schuster / Public Religion Research Institute | 2016
The End of White Christian America. Examines the demographic decline of white Christianity and the resulting transformation of American culture and politics, an important context for Christian nationalism and immigration debates.
100. | Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan L. Hajnal | Princeton University Press | 2015
White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics. Influential study of how immigration reshaped racial politics, public opinion, and partisan alignment in the United States.
Evangelicalism, Christian Identity, and Immigration
101. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 27, 2026
What Political Issues Do Americans Hear About in Church? Finds significant denominational differences in how frequently clergy discuss immigration and whether messages emphasize enforcement or welcoming immigrants.
102. | Felix Roleder | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | April 17, 2026
Who Is (Not) Afraid of Immigration? A Mediation Analysis Into the Ambivalence of Christian Religiosity for Immigration-Related Attitudes. Finds Christian religiosity can operate through both tolerant and exclusionary mechanisms depending on the form religiosity takes.
103. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 13, 2022
How U.S. Religious Composition Has Changed in Recent Decades. Discusses migration as one force reshaping America's religious composition and increasing religious pluralism.
104. | Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman A. Kellstedt | Springer | 2019
Introduction: Religion and the Politics of Immigration Reform. Introduces the political, religious, demographic, and institutional forces shaping evangelical engagement with immigration reform in the United States.
105. | Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman A. Kellstedt | Springer | 2019
U.S. Immigration History, Laws, and Protestant Christian Responses. Reviews immigration policy alongside changing Protestant responses to migrants, refugees, and national identity.
106. | Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman A. Kellstedt | Springer | 2019
Immigration in the 2000s: Immigration Reform, Executive Orders, and Evangelical Leadership. Examines evangelical organizations and leaders during major twenty-first-century immigration-policy debates.
107. | Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman A. Kellstedt | Springer | 2019
Immigration Attitudes Among American Religious Groups. Compares evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, Catholics, religious minorities, and unaffiliated Americans on immigration.
108. | Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman A. Kellstedt | Springer | 2019
The Evangelical Kaleidoscope: Racial/Ethnic Similarity and Difference. Shows that immigration attitudes differ substantially between white evangelicals and evangelicals of color.
109. | Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover and Lyman A. Kellstedt | Springer | 2019
Religion Does Matter: Alternative Measures and Contextual Effects. Examines how religious belief, attendance, congregational environment, and political identity interact in shaping immigration attitudes.
Populism, Evangelicalism, and the Polarized Politics of Immigration. Finds partisanship and right-wing cultural populism play major roles in explaining white evangelical immigration attitudes.
111. | Michele F. Margolis | The Journal of Politics | March 8, 2018
How Far Does Social Group Influence Reach? Identities, Elites, and Immigration Attitudes. Uses the Evangelical Immigration Table to examine conflicts between religious and partisan identities when elites advocate immigration reform.
112. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | November 3, 2015
American Social and Political Attitudes. Reports large differences among religious groups concerning whether increased immigration is good or bad for the United States.
113. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | May 17, 2013
The Religious Affiliation of U.S. Immigrants. Finds Christians remained the largest religious group among legal immigrants while immigration also expanded Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and unaffiliated populations.
114. | Douglas S. Massey and Monica Espinoza Higgins | Social Science Research | 2011
The Effect of Immigration on Religious Belief and Practice: A Theologizing or Alienating Experience? Uses the New Immigrant Survey to examine religious affiliation and practice among immigrants before and after migration.
115. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | February 1, 2008
Religious Affiliation and Demographic Groups. Documents how immigration altered the religious composition of the United States, particularly Catholicism and non-Christian religions.
116. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | June 6, 2007
¡Here Come Los Evangélicos! Shows Latino evangelicals differed markedly from white evangelicals on immigration despite sharing evangelical religious identification.
Religion and Immigration: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Experiences in the United States. Examines how migration transforms religious institutions and American religious identity.
118. | R. Stephen Warner and Judith G. Wittner, editors | University of Chicago Press | 1998
Gatherings in Diaspora: Religious Communities and the New Immigration. Foundational collection on how post-1965 immigration transformed American congregations, ethnicity, citizenship, and religious pluralism.
Congregations, Religious Practice, and Immigration Attitudes
119. | Korie L. Edwards | American Sociological Review | 2012
Race, Religion, and American Congregational Life. Provides context for understanding how racial composition within churches can influence political attitudes and social boundaries.
Immigration and Religion in America. Examines how immigration reshapes American religion and how religious institutions facilitate or inhibit immigrant integration.
121. | Ruth Braunstein | Social Problems | 2008
Religion, Congregations, and Immigration Politics. Research examining how congregational environments can influence attitudes toward immigrants and public policy.
122. | Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo | University of California Press | 2008
God's Heart Has No Borders. Studies faith-based immigrant-rights activism and religious understandings of immigration in Southern California.
123. | Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo | University of California Press | 2008
God's Heart Has No Borders: How Religious Activists Are Working for Immigrant Rights. Ethnographic examination of Christian and interfaith activism on behalf of immigrants.
124. | Prema A. Kurien | New York University Press | 2007
A Place at the Multicultural Table. Examines religion, migration, political incorporation, and national belonging among Hindu and other immigrant communities.
125. | Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo | Social Problems | 2007
Religion and a Standpoint Theory of Immigrant Social Justice. Explores how religious institutions and moral narratives contribute to immigrant-rights activism.
126. | Karen I. Leonard et al., editors | Russell Sage Foundation | 2005
Immigrant Faiths: Transforming Religious Life in America. Studies immigrant congregations and their impact on American Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and public life.
127. | Helen Rose Ebaugh and Janet Saltzman Chafetz | New York University Press | 2002
Religion Across Borders. Research on transnational religious networks connecting immigrants to both the United States and their countries of origin.
128. | Helen Rose Ebaugh and Janet Saltzman Chafetz | Cambridge/AltaMira | 2000
Religion and the New Immigrants. Examines congregations established by post-1965 immigrants and their role in preserving identity while facilitating incorporation into American society.
Christian Ethics and Immigration Policy
129. | Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang | InterVarsity Press | 2018
Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate. Evangelical treatment of immigration law, refugees, undocumented immigrants, border enforcement, and biblical teachings about foreigners.
130. | Mark R. Amstutz | Eerdmans | 2017
Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective. Develops a Christian ethical framework for immigration policy balancing national sovereignty, law, humanitarian obligations, and the treatment of migrants.
131. | Gemma Tulud Cruz | Orbis Books | 2014
An Intercultural Theology of Migration. Examines Christian theology, human mobility, diaspora, citizenship, and national identity.
132. | M. Daniel Carroll R. | Baker Academic | 2013
Christians at the Border, Second Edition. Updated theological examination of American immigration debates from an evangelical biblical perspective.
133. | Elaine Padilla and Peter C. Phan, editors | Palgrave Macmillan | 2013
Contemporary Issues of Migration and Theology. Explores Christian theological responses to migration, displacement, borders, hospitality, and citizenship.
134. | Gioacchino Campese | Fordham University Press | 2012
Theology of Migration. Develops theological approaches to migration that contrast sharply with religious-nationalist understandings of national boundaries.
135. | James K. Hoffmeier | Crossway | 2009
The Immigration Crisis: Immigrants, Aliens, and the Bible. Offers a comparatively restrictionist Christian interpretation of biblical passages relating to immigrants, borders, and legal status.
136. | M. Daniel Carroll R. | Baker Academic | 2008
Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. Examines biblical teachings about foreigners, migration, national borders, and Christian responsibilities toward immigrants.
137. | Daniel G. Groody and Gioacchino Campese, editors | University of Notre Dame Press | 2008
A Promised Land, a Perilous Journey: Theological Perspectives on Migration. Collection examining migration through Catholic, Protestant, biblical, and human-rights perspectives.
138. | Daniel G. Groody and Gioacchino Campese | University of Notre Dame Press | 2008
A Promised Land, a Perilous Journey. Provides theological arguments about migration that illuminate conflicts between Christian universalism and exclusionary nationalism.
Catholicism and Immigration
139. | U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops | USCCB | ongoing
Catholic Church Teaching on Immigration Reform. Summarizes Catholic teaching concerning human dignity, migration, family unity, border regulation, and national sovereignty.
140. | U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops | USCCB | ongoing
Immigration. Collection of Catholic policy statements and resources concerning migrants, refugees, asylum, detention, and immigration reform.
141. | National Catholic Reporter | National Catholic Reporter | ongoing
Immigration. Continuing collection of reporting on Catholic institutions, immigration enforcement, refugees, sanctuary, and political conflict.
142. | America Magazine | America | ongoing
Immigration. Jesuit publication's archive covering Catholic social teaching, border politics, asylum, deportation, and immigration policy.
143. | National Catholic Reporter | National Catholic Reporter | 2025
Catholic Bishops and Immigration Enforcement. Reports conflicts between Catholic social teaching and restrictive immigration enforcement proposals.
144. | Pope Francis | Vatican | May 24, 2024
Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Presents Catholic teaching emphasizing human dignity and solidarity with migrants and refugees.
145. | America Editors | America | February 2024
The Catholic Debate Over Immigration and the Border. Examines disagreements among Catholics concerning border security, humanitarian obligations, and immigration reform.
146. | Pope Francis | Vatican | October 3, 2020
Fratelli Tutti. Addresses nationalism, migration, borders, xenophobia, fraternity, and obligations toward migrants.
147. | Pope Francis | Vatican | August 15, 2017
Welcoming, Protecting, Promoting and Integrating Migrants and Refugees. Establishes four principles for Catholic responses to migration.
148. | U.S. and Mexican Catholic Bishops | USCCB | January 22, 2003
Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope. Joint pastoral letter establishing Catholic principles for migration between Mexico and the United States.
Refugees, Asylum, and Christian Politics
149. | UNHCR | United Nations | ongoing
Refugees. Background on refugee status, displacement, international law, and resettlement.
150. | Migration Policy Institute | Migration Policy Institute | ongoing
Refugee Resettlement. Research collection covering U.S. refugee admissions, integration, and policy.
151. | Jeanne Batalova and colleagues | Migration Policy Institute | 2024
Refugees and Asylees in the United States. Provides demographic and policy context for debates about refugee resettlement.
152. | Council on Foreign Relations | Council on Foreign Relations | 2024
How Does the U.S. Refugee System Work? Background on refugee admissions, security screening, presidential authority, and resettlement.
153. | Phillip Connor | Pew Research Center | October 5, 2016
Number of Refugees to Europe Surges to Record 1.3 Million in 2015. Provides demographic background for European nationalist reactions to refugees.
154. | Richard Wike et al. | Pew Research Center | August 2, 2016
Europeans Fear Wave of Refugees Will Mean More Terrorism, Fewer Jobs. Documents cultural and security concerns that contributed to European nationalist politics.
Muslims, Religious Pluralism, and Immigration
155. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 23, 2019
What Americans Know About Religion. Relevant background for understanding public misconceptions about Muslim and non-Christian immigrant communities.
156. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 26, 2017
Demographic Portrait of Muslim Americans. Documents the immigrant origins and demographic diversity of American Muslims.
157. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 26, 2017
Identity, Assimilation and Community. Examines Muslim-American patriotism, assimilation, national identity, and community ties.
158. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 16, 2014
How Americans Feel About Religious Groups. Measures warmth toward Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists, and other groups relevant to religious-boundary politics.
Nativism, National Identity, and Immigration
159. | Morris Levy and Matthew Wright | Cambridge University Press | 2020
Immigration and the American Ethos. Explores national identity, assimilation, citizenship, and immigration attitudes.
160. | John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck | Princeton University Press | 2019
Identity Crisis. Expanded analysis of immigration attitudes, racial attitudes, Muslim attitudes, and political identity surrounding the 2016 election.
161. | John Sides, Michael Tesler, and Lynn Vavreck | Princeton University Press | 2018
Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America. Shows how immigration, race, religion, and national identity became central dimensions of the 2016 election.
162. | Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan L. Hajnal | Princeton University Press | 2015
White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics. Demonstrates how immigration became intertwined with racial identity and partisan realignment.
163. | Zoltan L. Hajnal and Michael U. Rivera | American Political Science Review | 2014
Immigration and the Origins of White Backlash. Examines how immigration influences white political attitudes and partisan behavior.
164. | Deborah J. Schildkraut | American Political Science Review | 2011
Americanism in the Twenty-First Century. Research on competing definitions of American identity and their effects on immigration attitudes.
165. | Deborah J. Schildkraut | Cambridge University Press | 2011
Americanism in the Twenty-First Century. Examines civic, ethnocultural, racial, and religious definitions of American identity.
166. | Donald R. Kinder and Cindy D. Kam | University of Chicago Press | 2009
Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion. Examines ethnocentrism as a predictor of immigration, foreign-policy, and minority-group attitudes.
167. | Samuel P. Huntington | Simon & Schuster | 2004
Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity. Influential and controversial argument that large-scale immigration may challenge a historically Anglo-Protestant national culture.
Demographic Change and Replacement Narratives
168. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 13, 2022
Modeling the Future of Religion in America. Projects possible changes in Christian and unaffiliated populations, demographic trends sometimes invoked in Christian-nationalist discourse.
169. | Stephanie Kramer et al. | Pew Research Center | September 13, 2022
Modeling the Future of Religion in America. Detailed demographic modeling of religious switching, migration, fertility, and changing Christian population shares.
170. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | September 23, 2021
Immigration and America's Changing Population. Surveys partisan attitudes toward immigration and demographic change.
171. | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | July 1, 2020
The Nation Is Diversifying Even Faster Than Predicted. Examines generational and racial demographic change in the United States.
172. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | March 21, 2019
Views of Demographic Changes in America. Measures reactions to racial and ethnic diversification and changes in the country's demographic composition.
173. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | June 13, 2018
The Age Gap in Religion Around the World. Provides demographic context for anxieties about religious change.
174. | William H. Frey | Brookings Institution | March 14, 2018
The U.S. Will Become Minority White in 2045, Census Projects. Demographic analysis often relevant to scholarship about racial threat and replacement narratives.
175. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | November 29, 2017
America's Changing Religious Identity. Documents declining white Christian population shares and increasing religious diversity.
176. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | April 2, 2015
The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050. Provides demographic evidence concerning growth of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, unaffiliated, and other populations worldwide.
Immigration Politics and National Belonging
177. | Migration Policy Institute | Migration Policy Institute | ongoing
U.S. Immigrant Population Over Time. Historical data showing long-term changes in the immigrant share of the American population.
178. | Department of Homeland Security | DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics | ongoing
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Official data on lawful immigration, refugees, asylum, naturalization, and immigration enforcement.
179. | Congressional Research Service | U.S. Congress | updated regularly
A Primer on U.S. Immigration Policy. Nonpartisan overview of the legal framework governing immigration and admission to the United States.
180. | Congressional Research Service | U.S. Congress | updated regularly
Immigration: U.S. Asylum Policy. Explains asylum law, eligibility, border procedures, and policy disputes that frequently intersect with religious-nationalist debates.
181. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | July 22, 2024
Key Findings About U.S. Immigrants. Provides demographic facts useful for evaluating public claims about immigrants and demographic change.
182. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | June 6, 2024
Immigration Attitudes Have Shifted Amid Rising Border Crossings. Tracks changes in public opinion concerning immigration levels and enforcement.
183. | Jeanne Batalova and colleagues | Migration Policy Institute | 2024
Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States. Extensive factual background on immigration demographics and legal status.
184. | U.S. Census Bureau | U.S. Census Bureau | 2024
The Foreign-Born Population in the United States. Government demographic data on the immigrant population.
185. | Pew Research Center | Pew Research Center | August 20, 2020
Key Findings About U.S. Immigrants. Historical demographic context on immigrant origins, population size, citizenship, education, and employment.
