Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois, has sparked widespread controversy after unveiling a Nativity display portraying the holy family in the context of modern U.S. immigration policy. The scene includes baby Jesus wrapped in a Mylar blanket and bound with zip ties, Mary and Joseph wearing gas masks, and Roman soldiers depicted as ICE agents.
According to the church, “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 display aims to confront “the disconnect between professed religious or moral values and immigration policies.”
The church added, “The zip ties on the infant’s wrists directly reference the children who were zip-tied by agents during a raid on a Chicago apartment building earlier this year … The gas masks worn by Mary and Joseph reference the documented use of tear gas and other chemical weapons deployed by ICE agents against peaceful protesters …” Critics argue the depiction politicizes one of Christianity’s most sacred events.
