The Department of Homeland Security's tasteless holiday publication may have just violated the United States Constitution.
The federal agency's official X account posted several messages Thursday that appeared to violate the Establishment Clause, which prohibits government actions that favor one religion over another.
“Rejoice America, Christ is born!” read one mail containing a video montage of snowy landscapes with a choir singing “Hark! The Messenger Angels Sing.”
“Merry Christmas America. We are blessed to share a nation and a Savior,” read another mail.
Merry Christmas, America. We are blessed to share a nation and a Savior. pic.twitter.com/SDYujiojXS
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 24, 2025
The post also contained a video montage that was clearly meant to evoke nostalgia, but it was more off-putting than anything else. The video features archival footage of Donald Trump interspersed with clips from popular holiday films. There was even a photo DHS Secretary Kristi Noem holding a Christmas tree in Chicagowhere she launched deadly large-scale immigration operationto truly turn the creepy into the joyful.
Increasingly, it appears that the Trump administration views separation of church and state as merely a proposal.
It is fitting that DHS was the source of this egregious violation, since Noem's ethnic cleansing approach to national security is clearly rooted in xenophobia and Christian nationalism. And the president has consistently leaned toward Christian nationalist rhetoric to please his conservative base.
“They're talking about separation of church and state… I said, 'Okay, let's forget about that for a while,'” Trump. said earlier this spring during a National Day of Prayer event.
DHS has also made its share of disgusting holiday publications that did not violate the Constitution. One post the reference to “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” read, “This Christmas, our hearts grow as the illegal population dwindles.” But the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to separate families and communities demonstrates just the opposite.
