Controversial Nativity Displays Ignite Debate Over Faith and Immigration Policy

Why Nativity Scenes Matter This Christmas

This Christmas season, the traditional nativity scene has become an unexpected flashpoint in America’s ongoing immigration debate. Churches across the United States are reimagining Christ’s birth as commentary on federal immigration enforcement, portraying the Holy Family as refugees to reflect on the fear of separation and deportation facing many families today.

These displays have sparked intense reactions, raising fundamental questions about the relationship between religious expression and political activism during the most sacred time of the Christian calendar.

Churches Transform Traditional Displays

One baby Jesus lays in a manger wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with his wrists zip-tied at Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois. Meanwhile, the Saint Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, has displayed an empty Nativity scene with a sign reading, “ICE was here,” implying that the biblical figures were dragged away for detention.

Similar displays have emerged at churches in Charlotte and Chicago suburbs. At least one live-action depiction of Christ’s birth is slated to take place outside an ICE facility later this month. Religious leaders say they are hoping to make the Christmas story relevant to modern believers by recalling the dire circumstances faced by Jesus and his parents.

Fierce Backlash and Divided Opinions

The controversial displays have drawn sharp criticism from church authorities and conservative groups. The Boston Archdiocese told a Catholic church in suburban Dedham to remove a “politically divisive” sign about U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement from its Nativity scene, though Father Steve Josoma said he won’t remove it until he can speak to Boston Archbishop Richard G. Henning.

Critics call the scenes sacrilegious and politically divisive, accusing the churches of abusing sacred imagery and some arguing they should lose their tax-exempt status. However, supporters maintain that depicting the Holy Family’s refugee experience reflects biblical truth and contemporary reality.

A Pattern of Prophetic Witness

Woolf and Josoma said their churches have erected Nativity scenes with political themes in the past, touching on the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza or past immigration debates. St. Susanna parishioners locked baby Jesus in a cage in 2018 to protest how President Donald Trump’s first administration was separating families at the border.

For these church leaders, the controversy serves a purpose. As one pastor explained, religious art should challenge viewers and force difficult questions about how society treats vulnerable populations, particularly during the season celebrating Christ’s birth into poverty and persecution.