ICE Christmas enforcement operations mark a shift from past holiday slowdowns, raising concern among Latino congregations and faith-based organizations.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is increasing enforcement activities around Christmas, with DHS calling arrests a “Christmas gift” for safer streets, targeting individuals with criminal records and planning church-based operations, sparking protests and concern over holiday crackdowns despite past holiday season reductions.
DHS announced major operations leading up to Christmas, removing undocumented immigrants with criminal histories for offenses like burglary, robbery, and kidnapping, aiming for “silent nights and safer streets.”
There are reports and plans for ICE/DHS to conduct operations specifically targeting Spanish-speaking churches during the holiday season (Thanksgiving to Christmas).
Churches are responding with nativity scenes reimagined to protest these crackdowns, featuring ICE agents or separating Jesus from Mary to highlight the immigration issues.
While ICE historically reduced enforcement during holidays, current actions under the Trump administration appear to be intensifying enforcement during this period.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s “Christmas gift to Americans” came early as agents pulled more illegal immigrants with criminal records off the streets.
“This holiday season, ICE is working around the clock to ensure silent nights and safer streets,” DHS said in its announcement.
DHS said Friday that more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants have left the U.S. since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. It added that the administration’s sweeping crackdown has led to the “most secure border in American history.”
“In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history, and this administration is just getting started,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first,” she said. “In record time, we have secured the border, taken the fight to cartels and arrested thousands of criminal illegal aliens.”
