Churches across the United States are using satirical nativity scenes to protest Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, with displays featuring a handcuffed baby Jesus and Mary wearing a gas mask. The scenes aim to highlight the plight of migrant families facing deportation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).
At Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, baby Jesus lies in a manger wrapped in a foil blanket, with his wrists zip-tied. Mary stands nearby wearing a gas mask, flanked by Roman soldiers dressed in tactical vests labelled 'ICE'. The church's senior minister, Michael Woolf, said Christmas is a time 'when we have public art out on the lawn and we get an opportunity to say something'.
In Chicago, Urban Village Church removed the figures of Jesus, Mary and Joseph from its nativity scene, replacing them with a sign reading: 'Due to ICE activity in our community the Holy Family is in hiding.' At St Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, the figure of Christ was replaced with a sign saying 'ICE was here', despite complaints from the local archdiocese and ICE.
Organisers say the displays draw parallels between the holy family's status as refugees and the experiences of modern migrant families. Jillian Westerfield, associate minister at Lake Street Church, said critics either misunderstand the message or 'find it really challenging to their conscience and are lashing out at the art rather than engaging with what the actual message is'.
