Zip-Tied Baby Jesus Featured In Suburban Church's Immigration-Themed Nativity Display

EVANSTON, IL — An Evanston church's nativity display draws parallels between Holy Family's refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices.

The display, in front of Lake Street Church at 607 Lake St., portrays the Christmas story within the visual language of current actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Chicagoland. Baby Jesus is shown wrapped in an emergency blanket, which is used in detention facilities, with zip ties on his wrists to mimic a Chicago incident where ICE arrested children.

Mary and Joseph wear gas masks, referencing the precautions taken by protestors to avoid the use of tear gas by ICE agents, and Roman Centurions wear ICE vests.

"The Holy Family were refugees. This is not political interpretation, this is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told and retold for millennia. By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in that child’s footsteps," the church said in a post on Facebook.

Since the display was set up on Nov. 25, it has seen damage from the elements. Mary's gas mask has also been removed, and the zip ties on baby Jesus' wrists have been cut.

Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf, who was arrested outside the Broadview ICE facility last month, said it is important to find real world events that mirror sacred stories for the Bible. Woolf said the message of the church's scene is especially important during the holiday season because it relates to how people should treat their neighbors.

Woolf has invited the community to help restore the display on Saturday. The church will also be holding a prayer vigil on Wednesday, Dec. 10 for victims of "immigration enforcement terror."