Another church in the U.S. is facing criticism for its nativity scene display, after Lake Street Church of Evanston in Illinois depicted baby Jesus with his hands zip-tied, guarded by figures styled as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The baby Jesus is covered in a thin blanket that resembles aluminum foil, which the church tells Fox 32 Chicago is a reference to the emergency blankets used in detention facilities. Mother Mary and Joseph are wearing respirator masks to protect themselves from tear gas.
"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 church wrote on its Facebook page.
It continued: “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.”
The Nativity scene comes months after the controversial ICE raids in Chicago over the summer. The Department of Homeland Security launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in September 2025 to target the “worst of the worst” of undocumented people, such as gang members, rapists, and pedophiles.
DHS’s operation grew widespread criticism for its aggressive tactics, including the raid on an apartment that involved Black Hawk helicopters and flash bangs in the middle of the night. Children were separated from their parents, apprehended in zip ties, and ICE agents arrested U.S. Citizens, including a 67-year-old veteran.
Of the 37 people arrested, the majority faced no criminal charges. According to a report from NPR, 97 percent of undocumented immigrants arrested and detained had no criminal record at the time of their arrest.
The surge of federal agents in Democratic cities so far has pushed community members to fight back or shed light on what many have described as racial profiling. As for Lake Street Church of Evanston, church leaders hope its Nativity scene will educate people on the challenges migrants face.
“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 added.
The church, however, has faced some criticism over the hard-hitting scene.
"Wow, this is so wrong," one person commented under the church's statement. "The central message of Christmas is not immigration."
"Saddened by this and pray for this church and it's members," another person replied. "As Christians, we are charged with speaking the truth in love, and the truth of this is that it is wrong. Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord and lift these people up to Him in your prayers."
According to Fox 32, the mask has since been taken off of Mary, and the zip ties on the baby Jesus have been cut.