By
URIEL J. GARCIA/The Texas Tribune
To install more border barriers, the Trump administration wants to seize 14 acres of land on an iconic mountain outside of El Paso owned by the Catholic Diocese of neighboring Las Cruces, New Mexico, that attracts thousands of people for an annual religious pilgrimage.The land the federal government wants to take sits at the bottom of Mount Cristo Rey, a 720-foot-tall mountain with a 29-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ at its summit, that overlooks Ciudad Juárez, El Paso and Sunland Park, N.M.Last week, lawyers for the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in a federal court in New Mexico against the diocese of Las Cruces, which is resisting the government’s attempt to take the land. The lawsuit argues that the federal government needs the land to install barriers and other technology “designed to help secure the United States-Mexico border.”
The administration said in court documents that it has offered the church $183,000 for the land.The church said in court documents the Trump administration’s efforts violate its First Amendment right to religious expression.“The erection of a border wall through or along this holy site could irreparably damage its religious and cultural sanctity, obstruct pilgrimage routes, and transfer sacred space into a symbol of division,” the diocese said. “Any federal action to seize this land, construct physical barriers, or impede access to Mount Cristo Rey would constitute a significant infringement on religious freedom and the rights of worship.”
