A sign of the times? Associated Press: "Church nativity scenes add zip ties, gas masks and ICE to protest immigration raids"

Kevin R. Johnson

16 Dec 2025

A photo from Los Angeles in fall 2025

It is holiday season 2025. ICE is on many people's mind and not the kind that accompanies cold weather. The Associated Press reports on "stark reimaginings of Christ's birth are drawing praise and outrage as churches turn the Christmas tableau into a commentary on federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration." Check out the photos in the story.

Read AILA's Response to the DHS Open Letter to Immigration Attorneys

Last month, James Percival, DHS's General Counsel, wrote an open letter to AILA purporting to blame immigration attorneys for the asylum backlog and characterizing asylum applications as "meritless." AILA's Executive Director Benjamin Johnson's thoughtful response is available here. In it, he writes:

More Deportation Judges

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced another class of judges: 22 permanent and 4 temporary. The names and biographies of the new judges are available here.

There’s been an uptick in ICE arrests in the Bay Area, immigration attorneys warn

As election day nears, ICE operations appear to be on the rise. Several attorneys report that several ICE arrests across the Bay Area "reflect increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement." "Bay Area `rapid response' hotlines monitoring immigration arrests have seen an uptick in reports since this weekend, said

Seattle U Students Support Immigration Detainees Through Legal Aid and Advocacy

Read here about the good work of Seattle University law school students for immigrants

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Read AILA's Response to the DHS Open Letter to Immigration Attorneys

More Deportation Judges

There’s been an uptick in ICE arrests in the Bay Area, immigration attorneys warn

Seattle U Students Support Immigration Detainees Through Legal Aid and Advocacy