The topic of immigration is at the center of contemporary politics and from a scholarly
perspective existing studies have documented that attitudes towards immigration have brought
about changes in both partisanship and voting behavior. However many scholars have missed or
misconstrued the role of religion in this transformation particularly evangelical Protestant
Christianity. This book examines the historical and contemporary relationships between religion
and immigration politics with a particularly in-depth analysis of the fault lines within
evangelicalism-divisions not only between whites and non-whites but also the increasingly
consequential disconnect between elites and laity within white evangelicalism. The book's
empirical analysis relies on original interviews with Christian leaders data from original
church surveys conducted by the authors and secondary analysis of several national public
opinion surveys. It concludes with suggestions for bridging the elite laity and racial
divides.Ruth M. Melkonian-Hoover: (Ph.D. Emory University) is Chair and Professor of Political
Science at Gordon College Massachusetts. She has contributed chapters to Faith in a Pluralist
Age (2018) and Is the Good Book Good Enough? (2011). She has published in a wide range of
journals including Social Science Quarterly The Review of Faith & International Affairs Latin
American Perspectives Political Research Quarterly Comment and Capital Commentary. Lyman A.
Kellstedt: (Ph.D. University of Illinois) is Professor of Political Science (emeritus) at
Wheaton College Illinois. He has authored or coauthored numerous articles book chapters and
books in religion and politics including Religion and the Culture Wars (1996) The Bully
Pulpit (1997) and The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics (2009).
