On Christmas Day, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) decided to swap Silent Night for political theater, posting an image that linked the birth of Jesus to modern immigration enforcement, as Breitbart reports.

The congressman shared a digitally altered depiction of the Nativity, showing ICE agents storming the Bethlehem stable, comparing the Holy Family to unauthorized migrants and calling for an end to what he termed a “nightmare.”

Swalwell’s Christmas commentary immediately drew backlash for its factual leaps, with critics pointing to scripture and history to highlight major inconsistencies in his analogy.

Biblical Account Contradicts Modern Politics

The image, posted on X, featured a desecrated Nativity scene—spray-painted, tense, and under siege with enforcement agents casting shadows where angels normally appear. In the caption, Swalwell wrote, “May this be the last Christmas we live this nightmare.”

The message was meant to stir compassion, but the facts from the biblical account tell a very different story. According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph were not fleeing borders illegally but were traveling under a Roman edict for a census, long before there were passports or ICE.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Joseph’s ancestral home, as part of a mandated return under Roman rule, not as the result of unauthorized migration or border evasion.

Flight to Egypt: Misused and Misrepresented

After Jesus’s birth, his family did flee—but not across imperial lines. They temporarily relocated to Egypt, which was then part of the same Roman Empire, to avoid King Herod’s murderous decree.

This flight to Egypt is commonly used in political dialogues to paint Jesus as a refugee, but many Christians argue that this comparison collapses under scrutiny. Simply put, traveling within Roman territory to escape a local tyrant doesn’t equate to modern border violation.

The persistent effort to frame Jesus as a political refugee continues to divide biblical scholars and believers alike, with some churches embracing the narrative and others rejecting it on historical grounds.

Progressive Churches Bring Politics to the Manger

This year’s display wasn’t the only attempt to reframe the Nativity to reflect current immigration policy. The Lake Street Church of Evanston in Illinois took a similar approach with a jarring artistic statement.

Their scene featured Roman soldiers costumed as ICE officers, Mary and Joseph in gas masks, and even baby Jesus zip-tied as if detained. The church wrote on Facebook that the display “reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation.”

While creatively bold, many found the spectacle tasteless and manipulative, reducing sacred figures to mere props in a political tableau and leaving little room for reverence or accuracy.

Swalwell’s Comments Spark Debate, Not Unity

Swalwell’s post, though brief, triggered a swift debate for placing a first-century event into a twenty-first-century ideological struggle. His message may have been aimed at compassion, but instead landed as another injection of partisanship into religious tradition.

By trying to make a political point using a sacred story, Swalwell alienated not just conservatives but also moderate Christians who prefer their theology without partisan spin. Not surprisingly, the statement stirred more consternation than Christmas spirit.

Finding common ground on immigration is hard enough without mischaracterizing scripture or reducing important history to a meme. There is room for empathy in policymaking—but it should be rooted in truth, not distortion.