I have read that some Christian denominations in US are more liberal than the others. The articles that I read only mentioned they split in abortion right and LGBTQ equality.
Do liberal denominations also more welcome immigrants than conservative ones? Or do Christian denominations in US have similar attitudes towards immigration?
Do they have different attitudes towards immigration from Latin America, and from authoritarian countries? (merit based or asylum seeking, legal or illegal)
Thanks.
Churches will tend to have offical positions on matters that are related to morality (as understood by the church). This includes matters of sexual behaviour and abortion. But churches don't tend to adopt official positions on political questions that are economic rather than moral.
And the question of whether the USA should increase or decrease the number of migrants from Latin America is not primarily a moral question, but an economic one.
There is more of a moral element in matters relating to refugees and there are churches with missions to support (and convert) refugees. For example the United Church of Christ. There is a biblical tradition that Jesus' family sought asylum in Egypt after escaping from Herod. So there is a moral element to matters relating to displaced peoples.
Beyond that, churches are a reflection of the opinions of their members, and so churches. Churches that have a more conservative congregation will tend to reflect that, for example the LDS church position is more focused on the right of nations to enforce their laws.
As someone who has been part of congregations from many different denominations, it's mostly a matter of folk religion. If a congregation's members primarily come from a people group which is anti-immigration, then the congregation will probably be anti-immigration (and vice versa). They may come up with Biblical arguments one way or another to support these pre-existing beliefs, but (with rare exceptions) they aren't the position of the denomination as a whole.
Insofar as a liberal denomination's congregants will mostly be from pro-immigration backgrounds, chances are that (on average) a liberal denomination will be pro-immigration, and vice versa.
Again, this isn't decided by church doctrine so much as the beliefs of the surrounding culture.
Historically Catholic church welcomed asylum seekers, this could be the reason catholic countries these days are more tolerant to immigrants: Latin American countries grant citizenship to immigrants after as little as 2 years of residence, and in Spain the policy is liberal as well. Immigrants don't even need to have a job to settle there.
In protestant countries people underline work ethics so much that it's hard for anyone to get a free asylum. Countries like US expect asylum seekers to support themselves while their case is being processed or more currently detained. Noone would be giving out benefits to immigrants Instead they would be punished for seeking asylum and treated as "economic migrants" (Accused of having no grounds for asylum other thsn desire to take low paying jobs from the local poor people). In countries like Estonia Lutherans treat asylum seekers so harshly, only dozens could manage to apply for asylum there. Finland recently used gas on asylum seekers.
In the US immigration matters are decided on federal level, and church has no influence on it. However with more than half of all Christians in USA belonging to Protestant denominations, it's easy to see why it is more difficult for immigrants from Latin America to legalize their status in USA, than in Spain.
