An Illinois church has come under fire for putting up a Nativity tableau that shows baby Jesus with his wrists bound by zip ties, overseen by figures dressed like ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers. The display sits on the grounds of Lake Street Church of Evanston. According to the church, the baby’s thin foil‑like blanket alludes to the emergency sheets used in detention centers. The “ICE” officers are modeled after ancient Roman centurions, complete with sunglasses and green vests marked “ICE.” Mother Mary is depicted wearing a respirator mask to shield herself from tear gas, and Joseph is also masked.
In a Facebook post last week, the church explained that the scene reimagines the Nativity as a forced family separation, drawing a line between the Holy Family’s flight from famine and today’s immigration detention. “This installation reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family’s refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices,” the post reads. “‘The Holy Family were refugees. This is not political interpretation, this is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told and retold for millennia,’” it continues. “‘By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in that child’s footsteps.’”
The church, which also displays Black Lives Matter and other social‑justice banners, says the zip ties echo an incident earlier this year when agents tied children during a raid on a Chicago apartment. It claims most of the raid’s occupants were U.S. citizens, using the display as a warning that enforcement terror cuts across documentation status. Recently, observers noted that Mary’s gas mask appears to have been removed and the baby’s ties have been severed.
Commenters on the Facebook post shared a mix of praise and condemnation. One user pointed out that Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem was due to a census, and compared it to Trump’s “send people HOME” directive. Another called the display “blasphemy” and lamented that some were unaware of its meaning. A different comment argued that the Holy Family were simply fulfilling Caesar’s census requirement, not refugees.
Supporters described the tableau as “very powerful art” and said it helps confront the community’s tragedies. “Out of all the tragedy affecting my community, I’m glad powerful art is being used to address the issues that trolls make fun of,” one user wrote, hoping more such displays would inspire positive change.
Lake Street Church isn’t new to politically charged Nativity scenes. In 2023, it set up a version featuring Baby Jesus alone amid rubble, in tribute to civilians trapped in the Gaza war, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. The church’s Rev. Michael Woolf, a senior minister, was among 21 people arrested outside an ICE processing facility in Broadview on November 14, according to Patch.
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