Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the rescheduled date.
A Clifton church is using light and color to make a statement about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Christmas season.
Clifton United Methodist Church will debut “Beacon: Light in the Darkness,” a projected art installation by artist Douglas Borntrager, Saturday, Dec. 20 on the church’s exterior.
Projection images include phrases such as “Jesus was a refugee” and “Mary full of grace, kick ICE out of this place.”
The project comes at the end of President Donald Trump’s first calendar year of his second term — Trump vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history earlier this year. New data from the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project shows ICE agents have made an average of 824 arrests a day since Jan. 20. The average arrest total under the Biden administration in 2024 was 312 people per day. There are roughly 65,000 migrants in detention centers across the country as of press time, according to DHS data.
“The Christmas story is a story of refugees,” said Clifton UMC pastor Robert English. “Jesus’ family had to flee from political violence — from King Herod,”
The project places Clifton UMC among other churches making public statements about immigration through seasonal displays this year, including a church in Evanston, Illinois, that features a baby Jesus figure with zip-tied hands. In another church Nativity scene near Chicago, Mary, Joseph and Jesus are replaced with a sign telling viewers that “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.” In Boston, a Catholic parish has displayed an“ICE was here” sign above an empty manger, defying an order from the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to remove it. This comes just one month after America’s Roman Catholic bishops issued a rare statement condemning the mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S.
Clifton UMC has long been active on social justice issues, including support for immigrants during the Trump administration and long-standing advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
“This is an artistic statement and a theological statement,” said Pastor English. “The church is called to welcome the stranger and advocate for vulnerable people.”
This is Borntrager’s second collaboration with the church. His past work includes an installation in the 2024 BLINK festival and the Projection Connections mobile art project created during the pandemic.
Clifton UMC’s display will run from dusk to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20. A community vigil with cocoa and carols will start at 5 p.m.