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DHS Rebukes Anti-ICE Nativity Displays as Churches Keep Protest Scenes Despite Orders

Federal criticism followed church displays that recast the Nativity to condemn immigration raids.

A North Carolina church’s Nativity scene has some new additions this year – mannequins dressed as ICE agents looming over statues of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.
At St. Susanna Catholic Church in Dedham, Massachusetts, a sign reading "ICE Was Here" replaces the statues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the outdoor Nativity scene.
Vandals mostly destroyed a Nativity scene at Lake Street Church of Evanston that showed Roman centurions as federal immigration agents, Mary wearing a gas mask to protect against the agents' tear gas and the baby Jesus with his hands zip-tied. Church leaders said it reflected what many immigrants experienced during "Operation Midway Blitz." After this photo was taken Dec. 12, 2025, the church replaced Mary with a sign indicating she was beaten and detained by immigration agents. (Jillian Westerfield)
Community members attend a religious service outside of the immigration processing and detention facility in Broadview, Illinois on October 12, 2025.

Overview

  • A DHS spokesperson told clergy to “get a grip and seek help,” calling the depictions inaccurate and asserting ICE does not zip-tie children while citing a reported 1,050% rise in assaults on ICE agents.
  • Lake Street Church in Evanston said its Nativity was vandalized twice, including the decapitation of the Mary statue, and the church rebuilt the scene with explanatory signs after the latest attack.
  • St. Susanna Parish in Dedham replaced the Holy Family with a sign reading “ICE was here,” and the Archdiocese of Boston ordered the display removed, though the pastor has left it in place pending talks with the archbishop.
  • Other churches adopted protest tableaux, including Urban Village Church near Chicago with a sign saying the Holy Family is in hiding and Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas depicting the trio behind barbed wire.
  • The displays reference recent enforcement drives such as Illinois raids described locally as Operation Midway Blitz, drawing both support and accusations of sacrilege as community tensions and security concerns grew.