Sunland Park businessman talks about wall impact near Mt. Cristo Rey
Sunland Park businessman Robert Ardovino said Mount Cristo Rey was once a symbol of unity across borders, but the wall is changing that meaning.
EL PASO, Texas – Federal authorities are seizing a rugged border mountain topped with a giant statue of Jesus from the Roman Catholic Church, saying they need the land to build President Donald Trump’s border wall and keep out illegal immigrants.
The lawsuit, filed May 7 in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, marks the federal government’s claim to prominent land on Mount Cristo Rei on the Texas-Mexico-New Mexico border, amid a disagreement between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV over the U.S. treatment of immigrants.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American-born pope, has repeatedly warned that President Trump’s hard-line immigration strategy is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Recent polls have shown that more Americans support Leo than Trump.
The mountaintop statue of Jesus on the Cross, which faces the rising sun in the east and has long attracted religious pilgrims from both sides of the border, is located several hundred feet away on the American side.
For decades, the steel border wall separating the El Paso area from Juarez ended at the base of the mountain. That’s partly because the mountain is dangerously steep, creating a natural barrier, but also so pilgrims from both countries can access the site, which was built in the 1930s.
The Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico has asked a federal judge to block the government’s takeover of 14.2 acres of land, saying it violates the religious rights of pilgrims who routinely hike five miles barefoot. Some people carry a cross or kneel as a sign of humility. According to the diocese, as many as 40,000 people climb the mountain each fall on the Feast of Christ the King.
“Construction of a border wall through or along this sacred site could irreparably undermine its religious and cultural sanctity, impede pilgrimage routes and turn sacred spaces into symbols of division,” the church said in a court filing.
Federal officials say the need for a border wall outweighs other interests. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a statement that they tried to buy the land but activated eminent domain after it became clear the church would not sell. Under the Eminent Domain process, the federal government will pay the parish the fair market value of the land, which is approximately $183,000.
CBP officials are calling the proposed new barrier a “smart wall,” which could include steel bollards, roadways and remote sensing technology.
“While it is always CBP’s desire to voluntarily acquire real estate interests, if CBP is unable to voluntarily obtain the necessary access within a reasonable period of time, CBP will refer the matter to the Department of Justice to acquire the necessary real estate interests through prominent domains,” Homeland Security officials said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Illegal border crossings in the Border Patrol’s El Paso area have plummeted under the Trump administration. The number of encounters with immigrants fell from about 40,000 in March 2023 to 1,200 in March, according to the latest data from CBP.
Currently, religious pilgrims from Mexico must pass through an official port of entry before climbing the mountain.
Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents the El Paso area, criticized the Trump administration’s efforts. “The cultural and religious importance of Mount Cristo Rey is at the heart of our region,” Escobar said in a statement. “Seizing this community’s assets to build a border wall is consistent with the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for what communities like ours hold dear. There are many other ways to secure the border. Instead, the Trump administration prefers to destroy this sacred space.”
It was a Mexican-American man living in a now-demolished village called Smeltertown who carved a path up the mountain and erected a 29-foot limestone statue of Christ. Residents worked at a lead smelter near the base of the mountain and worked on the project for nearly a decade before it was completed in 1940.
President Trump has followed through on his campaign promise to build a border wall between Mexico and the United States, and efforts to erect physical barriers in sensitive areas like the Big Bend have drawn criticism. Last summer, then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would paint the entire wall black, but President Trump said that would make it too hot to climb. In the El Paso area, walls remain unpainted, except for a strip painted by Nomu during a press event.
As USA TODAY previously reported, hundreds of miles of 30-foot fences at the border already pose a deadly threat to migrants trying to scale them. Still, thousands of migrants have climbed the mountain since President Trump ordered its construction during his first term, some suffering fatal injuries from the fall.
Contributor: Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times
