A Nativity scene on display at a Chicago-area church depicts baby Jesus with zip-tied wrists and Mary and Joseph in gas masks in what its organizers called "a scene of forced family separation" amid a federal crackdown on crime and undocumented immigrants.

The display at the Lake Street Church of Evanston, about 15 miles outside Chicago, also shows the infant in a mylar-style emergency blanket and immigration agents with covered faces in helmets and robes to make them look like Roman soldiers.

"This installation is not subtle because the crisis it addresses is not abstract," the church said in a social media post.

The church said the depiction is supposed to match the experience of migrants in detention facilities and of community members, including children, who were detained during raids. The gas masks on Mary and Joseph represent the use of tear gas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents against protesters, the church said.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied that children's wrists were zip-tied.

"By placing the Christmas story (Christianity's central narrative of refuge, sanctuary, and sacred family) within the visual language of immigration enforcement and detention, this work asks viewers to confront the disconnect between professed religious or moral values and immigration policies," the church said in its post.

Rev. Michael Woolf, minister at Lake Street, was among a group of protesters arrested on Nov. 14 outside a federal immigration facility in Broadview, Illinois. A photo of Woolf lying face down on the ground while detained was widely shared at the time.

Lake Street Church says on its website that it is committed to social justice issues and opposes racism and discrimination. On immigration, the church said its policy is "to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and to support the humane treatment and respect of all immigrants who are seeking entry to our country, recognizing that the United States is a nation of immigrants."

The immigration crackdown intensified in September when President Donald Trump announced he was sending the National Guard to Chicago. The enforcement actions have been met with protests, which sometimes led to clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. The immigration crackdown in the Chicago area was named Operation Midway Blitz by the administration.

Chicago is among several major Democratic-led U.S. cities to see an enhanced federal law enforcement presence and immigration sweeps, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and most recently, New Orleans. The Department of Homeland Security announced on Dec. 3 that federal agents were beginning Operation Catahoula Crunch in New Orleans and focusing on "violent criminals."

But other operations show that many people detained have no criminal history. In Chicago, court records submitted by the Justice Department showed that of 600 arrested, only 16 had a criminal record.

Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Church displays Nativity scene with baby Jesus in zip ties, ICE agents

Reporting by Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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