ICE acting director and Boston Archdiocese call for removal of ‘ICE was here’ sign from Nativity
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: The alteration of the Nativity display at St Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, which was changed to say "ICE was here" has been met with a severe backlash.
Among those who have condemned the action are the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Todd Lyons, and the Archdiocese of Boston, with both demanding that it be removed immediately.
An empty manger and a sign reading ‘ICE was here’
A Nativity scene at St Susanna Parish in Dedham, a suburb of Boston, shows an empty manger with a sign reading "ICE was here," along with contact information for a group that monitors immigration enforcement in Massachusetts.
"The actions of the activist reverend, Stephen Josoma, are absolutely abhorrent and add to a dangerous narrative responsible for a more than 1,150% increase in assaults on ICE officers," Lyons said.
Rev Stephen Josoma, the pastor at St Susanna, said the church's peace and justice group organizes a display annually. Josoma told Fox News that they "try to see what it would be like if Christ was born into the context of the world today; what would he be facing?"
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons condemned the display outright
Lyons said that Josoma "has become infamous for using his pulpit to advance his activist agenda and has now caught the attention of the Archdiocese of Boston, which has publicly condemned his most recent political stunt. On behalf of ICE and our many law enforcement professionals in Massachusetts; many of whom are practicing Catholics and first-generation Americans."
"I applaud the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese for taking a stand against such a dangerous and extremist narrative," he added.
The nativity aimed to show protest. Pastor Josoma communicated that the image was a way to get people thinking about how the birth of Christ in today's world would be.
"It's supposed to affect people deeply, it's supposed to move people, it's supposed to change people," Josoma said. "So, if this evokes a strong reaction, it's maybe good to take a look at that."
Baby Jesus is disappeared from Nativity scene—replaced with warning that "ICE was here."
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) December 6, 2025
"Jesus was a refugee," said Rev. Stephen Josoma. "And if he were here today he would be deported."
The Archdiocese of Boston has ordered him to remove the display—but he refuses to comply.… pic.twitter.com/REAHjbxHtA
The Archdiocese’s Secretary for Communications and Public Affairs, Terrence Donilon, told Fox News Digital in a statement that the sign was "divisive political messaging" and called for its removal.
"The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship, not divisive political messaging," he wrote.
Josoma, in the past, has employed highly debatable Nativity scenes. These were part of his communication in which he addressed the topics of gun control and climate change, and, as it was said, during the Donald Trump's first presidency in 2018, Baby Jesus was the only one that was placed in a cage separated from his parents.
A number of other churches nationwide have also resorted to the use of Nativity scenes to lambast ICE and to draw people's attention to the matter of immigration.
