Christmas loses its festive spirit: ICE fears cast shadow over religious celebrations

At St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Hyattsville, Maryland, this Christmas is unlike any other. The posadas, a traditional celebration in Latin American countries that reenacts Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging before the birth of Jesus, will not be held outdoors as has been the custom. The event, which includes food and singing in a festive atmosphere, will be hidden from passersby for the first time.

“We’ll hold them inside our homes; we can’t do anything outside,” laments Father Vidal Rivas. That’s because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are lurking outside. In a neighborhood with a large Hispanic immigrant population, ICE raids, or the threat of one, have already left their mark.

Rivas has witnessed the devastating effects of the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant campaign on his parishioners. “People are still very afraid, and in one week, 13 members of our church self-deported,” he says. Three more were deported by federal authorities, and several are being held in ICE facilities.

Following the new self-imposed rules of not holding any outdoor activities, the traditional procession of Our Lady of Guadalupe — which was supposed to have taken place on December 10 — was canceled. Only 60 people attended the service for the Immaculate Conception held on Monday, half of what Father Vidal had expected. “Christmas celebrations used to be joyful and there was greater participation. Now, only about 40% of the people who used to come are attending.”

Until Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, churches, like hospitals and schools, were considered “sensitive locations,” meaning they were protected from raids by immigration agents. Upon taking office, however, the Republican lifted the ban, ensuring that no place is off-limits to ICE. Since then, whenever Father Rivas celebrates Mass, volunteers — always U.S. citizens — stand in the parking lot and outside the church to keep watch for ICE and warn parishioners if a raid is imminent.

“Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are very important dates, holidays when people go to places of worship,” says Bishop Dwayne Royster, executive director of Faith in Action, a network of more than 1,000 religious congregations of different faiths across the United States. “Many people are worried about this time of year and whether they will be able to attend their places of worship safely. After all, they have to get off the bus or out of the car, walk down the sidewalk, and go into the church. People are trying to decide whether they will attend religious services this year, whether they will be able to participate in the celebrations in the same way they usually do during this time of year. It’s a very complicated situation,”

In his opinion, many people will opt to follow services virtually, wherever that option is offered. Since the ban on arrests in sensitive locations was lifted, many churches have made this option available. However, the lack of the communal atmosphere that a physical church provides discourages many. Father Rivas tried offering catechism classes and even Mass online, but almost no one participated. “If we continued holding Masses online, we would go bankrupt,” he says.

Churches are seeking ways to protect themselves from ICE raids. At some, surveillance is conducted from outside; in others, parishioners take turns standing guard outside the windows during services. Some ask U.S. citizens to attend, so the racial makeup of attendees is less noticeable. “It’s incredible the faith people have, because right now the decision to go to church is a high-risk one, not only as an immigrant, but as a Latino,” says Pastor Julio Hernández, who leads the Congregation Action Network, which organizes Catholic and Protestant churches in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area.

“The threat [of arrests] is felt very strongly. It’s not just affecting the mood for Christmas celebrations, but also in poverty, because jobs are dwindling,” he says. “We know a single mother who used to work full-time at a restaurant, and now her hours have been cut in half because people aren’t going out to eat. The community has fewer resources to celebrate.”

The Trump administration’s immigration offensive has met with harsh criticism from faith communities. Pope Leo XIV, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and clergy from various religious traditions have spoken out against the government’s immigration agenda. Several churches have protested through the Nativity scenes they typically display at this time of year.

One such Nativity scene recently appeared at a church in Optimist Park, Charlotte, North Carolina — the city where Trump sent the Border Patrol last month to bolster migrant detentions. In the display, masked immigration agents in bulletproof vests, handcuffs at the ready, mingle among the figures of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The church’s pastor said the goal was to reflect the fear many migrant families experienced following recent detentions. “The goal is to disturb, to make people feel something,” said Reverend Andrew Shipley. “What has been happening to families in Charlotte is disturbing, graphic, and horrifying.”

Nativity scenes with protest messages have appeared in several locations across the country. Parishioners at St. Susanna Catholic Church in Dedham, Massachusetts, set up a scene in which Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are replaced by a sign reading, “ICE was here.” The manger is topped by a sign that reads: “Peace on Earth?” The Archdiocese of Boston requested its removal, but Reverend Stephen Josoma refused, arguing that the church highlights social issues of contemporary life every year. “We know that Jesus was born into a Roman imperial occupation, and pretty much immediately becomes a refugee in Egypt, has to flee and faces political violence,” he said. “So we have to ask: what would it be like if Jesus were born here today?”

Equally provocative is the Nativity scene displayed at Lake Street Baptist Church in Evanston, Illinois, where Mary and Joseph appear wearing gas masks. Reverend Michael Woolf said the scene was intended to call attention to the tear gas used by immigration agents against protesters in Chicago demonstrating against the appalling conditions in which detainees are held.

The parallels between the biblical story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth and the reality of migrants in the United States will feature prominently in sermons at many churches this Christmas. “When we think about the story of a baby who was born and, over time, had to flee his country of origin for safety reasons to go to a foreign country, that’s a familiar story for many of our immigrant brothers and sisters across the country,” Royster says. “And yet, even now, they feel threatened in the place that was supposed to be their refuge, fearing torture, detention, or deportation in this country, which was precisely the place where they were meant to find safety.”

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