(WGN) — Nativity scenes around the Chicago suburbs look a bit different this year, with some churches opting for a political theme in light of the recent, local surge of activity from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“This year, those who are most vulnerable in our neighborhood have disappeared, and so, the holy family also has disappeared this year,” Rev. Abby Holcomb said.
Rev. Holcomb is a pastor at Urban Village Church in River Forest, where she said their Nativity scene is in reference to ICE’s activity in Chicagoland.
“This is a message that is a theological image and reminder of who Jesus is among us,” Rev. Holcomb said. “If Jesus was being born today, what circumstances would he be born into? A brown child, a family that are refugees and are migrants moving around. They would most likely be in hiding, if not already disappeared.”
Rev. Holcomb said it’s a topic that hits close to home. Urban Village Church is only ten minutes away from Broadview’s ICE facility. She and other faith leaders have made it a point to have a presence outside the facility every other week since September.
“Many of us are persons of privilege, and I realize that every ounce of grief and hurt and betrayal that we feel is nothing compared to what people who are being targeted feel,” Holcomb said. “And so, [we are] putting ourselves as much in the gap and as much as many of us have the privilege to do so.”
At Lake Street Church in Evanston, their Nativity scene shows Baby Jesus zip-tied by ICE agents.
“Everything that is happening in our Nativity took place here,” Rev. Michael Woolf said. “These are scenes—the use of zip ties, the separation of families, the fact that Mary and Joseph have to have gas masks on because ICE is tear-gassing people in our communities who want to protect our neighbors.”
Rev. Woolf said the scenes are meant to draw parallels between the Holy Family’s refugee fight and modern immigration detention practices.
Per religious tradition, Rev. Holcomb said Urban Village Church’s Nativity scene will stay out through the first week of January, and there are no plans to bring out the Holy Family this year.
After a request for comment on this story, the Department of Homeland Security shared the following statement.
“Not only is this ‘nativity’ scene offensive to Christians, but it is also depicting something that—despite what Rev. Woolf said—NEVER happen. ICE does not zip tying infants or children. This demonization of law enforcement are contributing to a more than 1153% increase in assaults on ICE. Get a grip and seek help.” – DHS Asst. Sec. Tricia McLaughlin
According to NPR, an analysis of court records shows about a 25% rise in charges for assault against federal officers through mid-September, compared with the same period a year ago, but a search of federal court records by NPR’s Colorado branch—Colorado Public Radio (CPR)—showed that while the number of assaults on federal officers has risen even over the last five years, there was no evidence for a rise in assaults to the scale that Trump administration officials continue to claim.
Despite repeated requests for data to back up their astronomically large statistics, NPR said DHS has repeatedly declined to provide any justification to them or CPR for continuing to make these gargantuan assertions.