Attorneys for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces have turned to a U.S. District Court in an effort to stop the federal seizure of a sacred site near by US/Mexican border.
That site, Mount Cristo Rey, is part of a 1.3-mile span of desert land upon which the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol wants to build border infrastructure.
The proposal, first aired a year ago, has sparked strong opposition among worshippers and the Diocese itself, who have noted that the land in question importantly includes a roughly 30-foot-tall statue of Jesus.
The statue attracts tens of thousands of worshippers through the year, but especially during an annual religious pilgrimage.
Last week lawyers for the Department of Justice filed in the U.S. District Court to secure the property. It was noted, in separate documents, the government was offering the Diocese $180,000 through eminent domain.
In a swift response, lawyers for the Diocese moved to block the process. In filed papers, the Diocese, as represented by the Georgetown University Law Center, said that in acquiring the property the Justice Department would in essence “burden the free exercise of religion and the faithful who seek to commune with God on Mount Cristo Rey.”
The Customs and Border Patrol earlier said that it wants to build fences, roads, and other structures to prevent illegal migration in the area.
In a just-released statement, the Justice Department has provided new information, saying it is not, in fact, interested in the Mount Cristo Rey site itself, but rather land within the vicinity of the site that is more exactly adjacent to the border.
What impact the new statement will have on the litigation between the Diocese and the Department of Justice is not yet known.
The monumental limestone statue depicting Jesus with arms outstretched at the Mount Cristo Rey site was completed after two years of labor by sculptor Urbici Soler in 1939. It was officially dedicated in October of 1940 during a ceremony that attracted upwards of 40,000 people.
A reporter for the El Paso Times noted that from the perspective of the mountain peak, looking downward, one could see “thousands upon thousands of faces, upturned and rapt in homage to their God.”
May 14, 2026
By Garry Boulard
