In Minneapolis, the police chief has sparked controversy by drawing a parallel between the Nativity story and the current struggles faced by undocumented migrants, leading to criticism from the Trump Administration.

Chief Brian O’Hara faced accusations of neglecting his duties and making inappropriate analogies after he compared the experiences of migrants in the U.S. to Mary and Joseph’s fateful journey to Bethlehem prior to Jesus Christ’s birth.

During a recent press conference, O’Hara, reflecting on his Catholic upbringing, remarked, “Being in a Christian church as we approach Christmas holds personal significance for me.”

He expressed that he couldn’t ignore the current situation in Minneapolis, suggesting it resonates with how outsiders have historically been treated across millennia.

O’Hara highlighted that Mary and Joseph were perceived as “outsiders” and “had to stay in a barn,” drawing a parallel to how immigrants might be perceived in Minneapolis today.

“As Christians globally prepare to commemorate this event, it’s noteworthy how fear permeates our community,” the police chief concluded.

O’Hara’s remarks were met with backlash by GOP leaders, including Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin who accused him of ‘refusing to do his job.’

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, in a statement to Fox News, said it was ‘unconscionable that anyone would compare criminal illegal aliens to the Son of God.’

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was accused of ‘refusing to do his job’ and ‘making absurd comparisons’ after he likened the plight of migrants in the US to Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem ahead of the birth of Christ

President Donald Trump unleashed sweeping ICE raids across Minnesota earlier this year. Pictured are ICE agents during an operation in Minneapolis earlier this month

Saint Susanna Parish church displays a nativity scene that places a sign stating ‘ICE was here’ where baby Jesus should be displayed in Dedham, Massachusetts, on December 23, 2025

According to gospels in the Bible, Joseph and Mary had traveled to Bethlehem because a census was taking place, requiring people to be counted in the city where their ancestral family were from. 

They were therefore not outsiders in Bethlehem, but instead were returning to the ancient city of David, since Joseph was from the House of David, according to Christian scripture. 

McLaughlin, in a social media post highlighting four ‘dangerous creeps’ that immigration authorities recently apprehended in Minneapolis, called out O’Hara for alleging failing to keep his city safe.

‘How abhorrent and humiliating this Minneapolis Police Chief refuses to do his job and has allowed these pedophiles and rapists terrorize Minneapolis and hurt the very people he swore an oath to protect,’ she wrote.

She then cited how ICE was responsible for removing a convicted rapist, child sex offenders and other violent criminals from the Minneapolis streets. 

‘@GovTimWalz and @MayorFrey owe @ICEGov a big thank you,’ she added.

Jackson echoed McLaughlin, claiming that ‘law enforcement officials should enforce the law, not allow dangerous criminal illegal aliens to terrorize American communities while making absurd comparisons.’

President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller added: ‘In major cities across the country police chiefs use the phrase ‘our community’ to refer to illegals and foreign trespassers.’ 

O’Hara, during a press conference last week, cited how Mary and Joseph were ‘considered outsiders’ and ‘forced to stay in a barn,’ seemingly implying that immigrants in Minneapolis are viewed the same way

O’Hara’s remarks were met with backlash by GOP leaders, including Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin (pictured in May this year) who accused him of ‘refusing to do his job’

Tensions have been on the rise in the Democrat-run area of Minneapolis-St. Paul after Trump unleashed sweeping ICE raids across the city.

Last week, ICE agents and protesters clashed in neighboring Minneapolis. An ICE agent also fired shots Sunday at a Cuban immigrant living in the US illegally after the man struck the agent and another one with an SUV, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The man also bit an ICE agent as officers subdued him outside his apartment in St. Paul after he tried to flee on foot, according to McLaughlin.

The man wasn’t hurt, and the injuries received by the agents struck by the SUV were not life-threatening – though he and the agents were taken to the hospital for evaluation.

McLaughlin said the man detained Sunday entered the US in 2024 through a now-discontinued program implemented by former President Joe Biden’s administration allowing migrants without proper entry papers into the country while their claims for asylum were reviewed. 

Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis has largely been targeting illegal aliens from Somalia.

Protesters march through a neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 20, 2025, where many Somali, Latino and Hispanic immigrants live and work at a rally calling for the removal of ICE from the city

Tensions have been on the rise in the Democrat-run area of Minneapolis-St. Paul amid the immigration crackdown. An ICE agent is seen clashing with a female protester in the city on December 15, 2025. The federal agent is accused of dragging the woman through the street

Earlier this month, the president labeled Minnesota Somalis as ‘garbage’ and said he didn’t want them in the US saying ‘they contribute nothing.’ He went on to further disparage Somalia as ‘filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.’

He also blamed Democratic Governor Tim Walz for allowing Minnesota to become ‘a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity’ and claimed there are alarming amounts of alleged fraud perpetrated against state welfare agencies by Somali migrants. 

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, with about 107,000 residents of Somali origin, according to US Census Bureau data.