Several churches have altered traditional Nativity displays to protest federal immigration enforcement, prompting admiration and anger across communities. Outside Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, a baby-Jesus doll was shown with zip ties and wrapped in a silver emergency blanket in a manger. A Mary figure nearby wore a plastic gas mask and stood beside figures in tactical vests marked “ICE.” In another Chicago suburb, Urban Village Church placed a manger sign reading, “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 absent and replaced by a hand-painted placard that said, “ICE was here.”
The altered tableaux are intended to recast the Holy Family as refugees and to draw attention to the anxiety of families who fear separation and deportation under stepped-up enforcement. Creators say the displays are meant to make visible the trauma and uncertainty many parishioners and neighbors are living with today.
Supporters argue the displays are rooted in scripture and pastoral concern; critics call them sacrilegious and overly political, accusing churches of misusing sacred imagery. Some opponents have warned of potential consequences for clergy, including challenges to a parish’s standing or tax-exempt status. In Massachusetts, the archdiocese ordered the Dedham manger returned to a more traditional form and requested that the display be removed; Father Steve Josoma had not complied as of Thursday and was seeking discussions with church authorities.
The controversy comes as immigration arrests have increased in jurisdictions that have resisted recent federal policy. Federal figures released by immigration authorities showed roughly 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. His congregation has used Nativity scenes in previous years to highlight current crises, including a past display showing Jesus amid rubble as a statement about Gaza.
St. Susanna has a history of provocative displays: the parish locked a baby-Jesus figure in a cage in 2018 to protest family separations at the border and once placed the infant amid polluted water to call attention to climate change. Phil Mandeville, a parish council member who coordinates a multi-church refugee support group, said the parish’s ongoing work with displaced people makes this more than a stunt.
“We work on a daily basis with refugees,” Mandeville said. “This isn’t just theater — we care about people more than a manger scene.” He added that scripture often calls believers to act, noting that when unsure, people ask, “What would Christ do?” and that their response is rooted in that question.
The archdiocese responded that parishioners come to church expecting opportunities for prayer and worship, not divisive political messaging, and some Catholic activists have urged disciplinary measures. “This is really a grave scandal for Catholics,” said C.J. Doyle, director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, warning that bishops have several powers to discipline or remove pastors.
At Lake Street and other churches, ministers say the goal is to place the ancient story in a modern context to spark emotion and conversation about the fear of detention and family separation. Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at the United Methodist congregation in Evanston, said the display was intended to mirror “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.”
Local communities have reported troubling incidents tied to the enforcement campaign, including bystanders exposed to chemical sprays and children watching neighbors and teachers taken into custody, spurring state and municipal probes.
Reactions to the Nativity alterations have been mixed. In Dedham, Archbishop Richard Henning ordered the display removed; some parishioners and nearby residents objected to the church’s message. Walter Niland, a Catholic from a neighboring town who took a selfie at the scene, said he believes churches should stick to spiritual matters rather than stoke political division. Others came expressly to confront the parish — one man livestreamed himself trying to pull on locked church doors.
At the same time, supporters have traveled to show solidarity. Steve Grieger, a former Catholic schoolteacher, drove an hour from Worcester to back St. Susanna’s display, saying that the archdiocese’s concern for tradition doesn’t reflect the abnormal times people are living through and that those following Jesus should recognize raids and separations as contrary to the faith’s teachings.
In Evanston, volunteers from a nearby synagogue stood outside during Lake Street services to help worshippers feel safe. Creators of the displays say critics sometimes focus on the provocative imagery itself instead of engaging with the message: that vulnerable families are living in fear amid increased immigration enforcement and that congregations feel a pastoral obligation to respond.