Overview
- Claremont United Methodist Church in California unveiled an 8-by-16-foot banner declaring “Jesus was a refugee,” depicting a Latino Holy Family trailed by a silhouetted ICE agent.
- Axios reports a nationwide pattern of protest scenes in Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas and North Carolina, including zip-tied baby Jesus figures, empty mangers and a Dallas display inside a cage, with several sites vandalized and later restored.
- Boston archdiocesan leaders called for removal of St. Susanna Parish’s “ICE was here” sign, arguing parishioners expect spaces for prayer rather than political messaging.
- A Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary criticized the installations as offensive and asserted that ICE does not zip tie infants or children.
- The Interfaith Alliance launched a $300,000 holiday ad campaign echoing themes of protecting neighbors, as participating clergy frame the displays as theological witness grounded in the Gospel accounts of flight and threat.