A doll representing the baby Jesus was shown zip-tied and wrapped in a silver emergency blanket in a manger outside Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, while a Mary figure nearby wore a plastic gas mask and was flanked by figures in tactical vests labeled “ICE.” In a different Chicago suburb, a manger outside Urban Village Church carried a sign: “Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.” And at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, the Christ child was missing from the display and replaced with a hand-painted sign reading, “ICE was here.”
Those and other stark reworkings of the Nativity are provoking both praise and outrage as congregations use the Christmas tableau to comment on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. Creators say they are recasting the Holy Family as refugees to highlight the fear of separation and deportation that many families — including parishioners — are living with today.
Supporters argue the Bible supports the message; critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically charged, accusing the churches of misusing sacred imagery and suggesting possible consequences for clergy, including threats to tax-exempt status. The archdiocese in Massachusetts has ordered the Dedham manger “restored to its proper sacred purpose,” and asked the display removed; as of Thursday, Father Steve Josoma had not complied and was seeking a meeting.
The debate is unfolding as immigration enforcement ramps up in cities and states that have objected to the crackdown. Federal arrest figures released by immigration authorities show that at least about 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts combined in September alone.
“For churches, Christmas is a time when we have public art out on the lawn and we get an opportunity to say something,” said Rev. Michael Woolf, senior minister at Lake Street. He noted previous Nativity displays his congregation has staged to draw attention to contemporary issues, including a prior year’s depiction of Jesus in rubble as a “plea for peace” in Gaza.
St. Susanna parishioners have used provocative Nativity displays before — locking a baby Jesus in a cage in 2018 to protest family separations at the border and depicting the infant amid polluted water in another year to highlight climate change. Phil Mandeville, who serves on the parish council and coordinates a multi-church refugee support committee, said those longtime ties to refugees make the parish determined to keep the current display.
“We work on a daily basis with refugees,” Mandeville said. “Just to emphasize the reason for all of this — it’s not a stunt. We care more about individuals than I do a manger scene.” He added that scriptural teaching often calls for action: “When you’re unsure how to act, ask, ‘What would Christ do?’ Now we’re doing that, and it doesn’t seem to jibe.”
The archdiocese countered that parishioners should expect opportunities for prayer and worship when they come to church, “not divisive political messaging,” and some Catholic activists urged disciplinary action. “This is really a grave scandal for Catholics,” said C.J. Doyle, director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, warning that the archbishop has several powers to punish or remove a pastor.
At Lake Street and other sites, ministers say they meant to place the ancient story in a modern context to spark emotion and dialogue about the fear of detention that many in their communities face. Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at the United Methodist church in Evanston, said they wanted the display to reflect “the reality that our community is experiencing.” After the Joseph figure was blown down and damaged, leaving Mary alone with the baby, the church posted a sign reading: “Joseph didn’t make it. We hold this space to honor and remember all the victims of immigration enforcement terror.”
The immigration enforcement campaign has led to troubling local incidents in Illinois, including bystanders being exposed to chemical sprays and children witnessing neighbors and teachers taken away, prompting state and local probes.
Reactions in communities have been mixed. In Dedham, Boston Archbishop Richard Henning ordered the display taken down. Some parishioners and nearby residents objected. Walter Niland, a Catholic from a neighboring town who took a selfie at the scene, said he believes churches should address spiritual matters rather than political division. Others came expressly to challenge the parish — one man livestreamed himself trying to pull at locked church doors.
Meanwhile, supporters traveled to show solidarity. Steve Grieger, a former Catholic schoolteacher, drove an hour from Worcester to back the display. “The Archdiocese says, ‘Oh no, that goes against our tradition.’ Well, we’re living in times that are totally abnormal. We can’t just proceed as normal,” Grieger said. “If we’re following the scriptures of Jesus, then we have to recognize that these ICE raids, and all of these terrible things going on, are totally against that.”
In Evanston the controversy attracted volunteers from a nearby synagogue who stood outside during Lake Street’s services to help worshippers feel safe. Creators of the displays say critics sometimes react to the iconography itself rather than engaging with the message they hope to convey about vulnerable families facing enforcement actions.
