ICE Nativity scenes: Churches reimagine Christmas story amid deportations

At first glance, the Nativity scene outside Lake Street Church in Evanston, Illinois, has all the traditional hallmarks: Figures resembling Mary and Joseph stand near a baby Jesus, who rests in a manger.

But this year, the details are decidedly different. For starters, Mary and Joseph are wearing gas masks. Jesus, who typically is depicted lying in hay, is instead nestled in a reflective blanket often used by immigrants in detention, with his hands bound with zip ties. And behind the family stands three Roman centurions wearing vests with a very modern label: ICE, or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Rev. Michael Woolf, senior minister at the church, said the Nativity was meant to reference the recent influx of ICE into Chicago and the surrounding area as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing mass deportation effort. The pastor noted Department of Homeland Security agents have tear-gassed protesters in the area and that locals reported seeing children among those detained with zip ties by federal agents during a recent high-profile immigration raid in a nearby apartment building. DHS has denied the latter claim, although evidence of similar actions has been reported elsewhere.

Religion & Politics

Photos of the Week: Immaculate Conception, Christmas preparations

A pilgrim crawls to the Sanctuary of Lo Vasquez during an annual celebration marking the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in Valparaiso, Chile, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

In Opinion

And finally, Inside the push to bring mental health care into American mosques

Sabrina Ali grew up in a South Asian home in Canton, a multicultural suburb of Detroit, and said she learned from a young age that she couldn’t talk about her mental health struggles with her immigrant parents.

“It was like they just came from a totally different world … and for them it was like, ‘Well, what do you have to be depressed about? Like, you’re 13, you have a good home, you have a good family, like, you have food on the table,’” said Ali, now a stay-at-home mother and former teacher.

She said her parents meant well and suggested she pray more to resolve her internal struggles, “to be more religious, essentially, quote, unquote, whatever that meant to them.”

But in college, when she began struggling with recurring nightmares, Ali knew she needed outside help. She began attending therapy through the Counseling and Psychological Services or CAPS program, a free counseling program for full-time students. CAPS, which is offered on college campuses around the country, offered Ali a private entryway to seek counseling services without having to tell her parents.

“Maybe God is testing me, but even my decision, the path towards making the decision to seek professional help, I think, in a way, was also a test, you know, because what is the saying, trust in God, but tie your camel, right?”

Seeking mental health care can be complicated for many American Muslims, who, like Ali, often grow up learning therapy is shameful and problems should be kept private or within the family. When there is conflict, they are urged to go to an imam first for advice. Now, a growing number of mosques are hoping to make therapy more accessible to Muslims who want it, in part by offering it themselves.

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