
Trump administration looks to strip Catholic-owned lands along border
Mount Cristo Rey is a mountain along the southern border with Mexico. It has served as a pilgrimage site topped by a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ since 1940. Each year, thousands of people from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border make a pilgrimage up the mountain to the cross.
The diocese has raised concerns about the government's action, stating that religious freedom will be violated if the wall is constructed.
"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 of Las Cruces said in the legal documents. "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."