Survey Says ‘White Christians Are Confusing Christian Nationalism with Gospel Teaching’
In February 2026, the Public Religion Research Institute conducted a national survey of Americans on how President Trump’s administration is enforcing immigration law – including the role of US Immigration & Customs Enforcement officers, due process, and how different faith groups are responding to this national debate.
Results from the survey were published in March 2026, with White Catholics representing only one of two religious groups with majority overall support (53%) for Trump’s immigration policies.
55% of white Catholics supported the idea of sending undocumented immigrants to detention centers (also known as internment camps) until they were deported, with 43% supporting detention in centers in states far from detainees’ homes, making due process impossible, not even possible to challenge detainment in court.
48% of white Catholics were not opposed to ICE agents concealing their identities with masks or traveling in unmarked cars. 54% of white Catholics supported increasing funding for ICE. This is combined with 47% of white Catholics supporting the “Great Replacement Theory”, a conspiracy theory (i.e. a far right white nationalist conspiracy theory) that white European Americans are being replaced by non-white immigrants through mass migration and declining birth rates.
Catholic teaching on loving one’s neighbor is found throughout the Gospels. When Jesus was questioned -- how does one inherit eternal life, Jesus asked the questioner what is written in the law? The answer was love God and love one’s neighbor. Ah, who is your neighbor? That gave Jesus the opening to give us the parable of the Good Samaritan.
I want to ask the white Catholics who support the Administration’s treatment of undocumented immigrants, if Jesus would approve of their “love” of our neighbors.
Marylee Raymond Diamond, April 4, 2026