Church Nativity Scenes Display Zip Ties and Gas Masks in Protest

(EVANSTON, ILLINOIS) A Nativity scene at Lake Street Church here has become a flashpoint in a wider fight over immigration enforcement, after congregants installed a display showing the infant Jesus wrapped in a silver emergency blanket with zip ties around his wrists, Mary in a plastic pair of gas masks, and Roman-soldier-style figures in tactical vests labeled “ICE,” a reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The altered Nativity has drawn visitors, praise, and anger in equal measure, reflecting the strain many immigrant families say they feel during stepped-up raids and arrests. Supporters say the props are meant to make people sit with the fear that can follow an immigration operation — fear of a knock at the door, fear of a traffic stop, fear that a parent may not come home. Critics say the same images turn a sacred Christian story into a partisan message, and they argue churches should not use holy figures to score political points.

Why the display has provoked controversy

The display’s details at Lake Street Church have carried much of the controversy.

• The image of the baby Jesus bound with zip ties echoes a common tool used in arrests.
• The gas masks point, supporters say, to accounts of chemical sprays and crowd-control tactics that some communities say have accompanied enforcement actions.
• The figures marked “ICE” place the modern U.S. agency into an ancient scene that, for many Christians, is meant to focus on the birth of Jesus and the humble setting of a manger.

Those visual choices have prompted sharply different readings: for some, a poignant commentary on vulnerability and displacement; for others, an offensive politicization of religious imagery.

Similar displays and institutional responses

The scene in Evanston is not unique.

• Reports describe several U.S. churches placing altered Nativity displays with similar props — zip ties, gas masks, and enforcement figures — as political statements about immigration raids and their effects on immigrants and neighbors.
• The displays have triggered pushback from some church authorities, including at least one archdiocese that ordered a manger restored to its “proper sacred purpose,” language that shows how sharply some leaders view the use of Nativity imagery in protest.

Context: enforcement, arrests, and community impact

The timing has sharpened the debate. The controversy is unfolding amid intensified immigration enforcement in some states and cities.

• Reporting cites federal arrest figures released by immigration authorities showing that in September — the year was not specified — at least 2,000 people were arrested in Illinois and Massachusetts combined.
• In communities where immigrants make up a large share of the workforce and school population, even a small number of visible operations can ripple outward:
  • Families change routines
  • Children may skip church and school events
  • People avoid public places because they fear contact with law enforcement

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, public attention around enforcement often rises not only from policy shifts in Washington, but from visible actions on the ground that make families feel exposed, even when their immigration cases are pending or their children are U.S. citizens.

Supporters’ perspective: religious witness and empathy

Supporters of the altered Nativity scenes, including pastors and parishioners involved in installing them, describe the displays as a form of religious witness.

• They say the Holy Family’s vulnerability still exists in today’s world, and the displays aim to make that connection visible.
• Their argument is not to equate every immigration officer with an oppressor, but to force a conversation about how raids and arrests can feel to a parent or child who sees agents arrive with:
  • tactical gear
  • restraints
  • and, in some cases, chemical sprays

They note that the Nativity story already involves displacement and danger, and placing the baby Jesus in a modern posture of arrest is meant to call out suffering many congregations witness firsthand.

Critics’ perspective: sacrilege, division, and legal concerns

Critics respond in strong terms.

• They say the Nativity is not a stage prop and that placing Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in a tableau of detention is offensive and divisive.
• Some have called the images sacrilegious.
• Others argue that churches promoting partisan messages should lose tax-exempt status — a contention that frequently surfaces when congregations take public stances on immigration, abortion, or elections.

Note: U.S. tax law and enforcement practice in this area are complex and fact-specific. The source material did not cite any new IRS action tied to these displays.

The wider gap: agency framing vs. community fear

What is clear is that the debate has moved beyond art choices and into questions about how churches respond when immigration policy hits their pews.

• The federal government’s descriptions of immigration enforcement emphasize legal authority and public safety.
• ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit outlines its mission and activities on its official site, including explanations of how operations are carried out and who may be targeted: ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.

That gap — between agency framing and the fear felt in many immigrant homes — is where religious protest often takes root.

How symbols spread and influence debate

In today’s media environment, symbols travel fast.

• A photo of a Nativity scene with zip ties can spread beyond a church lawn and land in national political arguments within hours.
• The resulting attention can amplify local tensions and make the controversy a broader cultural and political story.

Missing specifics and familiar dynamics

The source material did not name the pastors who installed the Evanston display, the parishioners who supported it, or the individuals who felt harmed by it. It also did not identify the archdiocese that issued the “proper sacred purpose” order.

Still, the outlines of the fight are familiar to immigration lawyers, advocates, and local officials:

• Enforcement actions create fear.
• Communities respond in various ways.
• Institutions that try to speak for both the fearful and the skeptical often find themselves squeezed.

On-the-ground tension in Evanston

In Evanston, visitors to Lake Street Church can see that tension made physical.

• Nativity figures, normally surrounded by calm and warm light, are re-cast with the visual language of an arrest scene.
• For immigrant families who have watched relatives taken away, the props may look less like metaphor and more like a memory.
• For others, the same props can feel like an accusation aimed at fellow Christians who support strict enforcement, or at relatives who work in law enforcement.

“When enforcement shows up at the edge of a community’s daily life, what counts as faithful witness, and what crosses a line into politics that fractures a congregation?”

Key takeaways

• The Lake Street Church Nativity has become a focal point in the debate over immigration enforcement, using zip ties, gas masks, and “ICE”-labeled figures to make a political and pastoral statement.
• Supporters frame the displays as religious witness and an attempt to make visible the fear and vulnerability experienced by immigrant families.
• Critics view the tableau as politicizing sacred imagery, potentially sacrilegious and divisive, and raise questions about tax-exempt status when churches take public political stances.
• The conflict illustrates a broader tension between official enforcement narratives and the lived fear in immigrant communities — a gap that often fuels protest and controversy.

As churches across the United States weigh whether to keep, modify, or remove such scenes, the debate is likely to keep circling the same hard question: when immigration enforcement touches a congregation’s community, how should faith institutions respond without deepening divisions?