New Mexico Diocese Fights Federal Seizure of Shrine Land for Border Wall

The U.S. government has filed a civil eminent-domain action in federal court seeking to take land held by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, for the stated purpose of border wall construction. The Diocese of Las Cruces is actively opposing the federal action, submitting a legal response that argues the proposed seizure would impose a substantial burden on religious freedom by interfering with access to Mount Cristo Rey, a prominent Catholic shrine distinguished by a 29-foot-tall statue of Christ that has long served as the site of annual pilgrimages for Catholic worshippers.

The Details

According to reporting by the National Catholic Register and Catholic News Agency, the government’s civil complaint seeks just over $183,000 in compensation for the defendants named in the case. The federal legal action is directed at a parcel of land that sits at the base of Mount Cristo Rey, a shrine marked by a 29-foot-tall statue of Christ and regularly used by the diocese and faithful Catholics for annual pilgrimages.

In a May 8 court filing opposing the government’s seizure effort, the Diocese of Las Cruces advanced a religious-freedom argument against the proposed federal land taking. The diocese stated in its filing that the action would “substantially burden the religious freedom of both the diocese and the other faithful who seek to commune with God on diocesan property,” according to the National Catholic Register/CNA report. Attorneys representing the Diocese of Las Cruces also emphasized in the legal proceedings that the mountaintop shrine is the site of annual pilgrimages, underscoring the ongoing religious significance of the property and the potential disruption to worship and access if the land were repurposed for federal border infrastructure.

Independent reporting from The Independent provided additional detail on the scope of the federal government’s land acquisition request. The outlet reported that the Justice Department is seeking approximately 14 acres belonging to the Diocese of Las Cruces to install fencing, security lighting, and cameras near Mount Cristo Rey. The same report noted that the annual pilgrimages at Mount Cristo Rey can draw as many as 40,000 worshippers each fall, reflecting the site’s importance as a major destination for Catholic faithful in the region and the potential scale of disruption the diocese says would result from the installation of federal security infrastructure.

The exact acreage sought by the government is not consistently reported across available coverage of the case. While The Independent provided the approximate 14-acre figure, church-focused coverage from the National Catholic Register and Catholic News Agency did not clearly state the tract size in the extracted text. The discrepancy highlights an area where independent and church-affiliated reporting diverge on the specifics of the government’s land request, leaving the precise acreage unsettled in publicly available accounts.

Context

Mount Cristo Rey is located in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas. Its position directly on the international boundary places the shrine at the intersection of federal border infrastructure priorities and local religious land use. The diocese is framing its legal challenge around the religious-freedom burdens tied to access to the long-standing Catholic pilgrimage site, with the May 8 filing emphasizing the impact on worshippers who travel to the property specifically to commune with God rather than encounter federal security installations.

The shrine’s 29-foot-tall statue of Christ and its established role as a destination for annual pilgrimages are central to the diocese’s argument that the land seizure would materially interfere with worship and pilgrimage access. The reported attendance figure of as many as 40,000 worshippers each fall, as cited by The Independent in its coverage of the case, illustrates the substantial scale of religious activity at the site that the diocese says would be disrupted by the federal government’s planned installation of fencing, security lighting, and cameras on the property.

Multiple news outlets have covered the dispute, including The New York Times, National Catholic Register/Catholic News Agency, and The Independent.

What's Next

The case is now before the federal court, with the Diocese of Las Cruces actively opposing the government’s eminent-domain action through its May 8 filing. No timetable for a ruling or further proceedings was available in the reported coverage of the case. The federal government’s complaint, which seeks just over $183,000 in compensation for the named defendants, and the diocese’s religious-freedom opposition establish a legal dispute that will proceed through the federal court system as both sides present their arguments regarding the land at the base of Mount Cristo Rey and its use for Catholic worship and annual pilgrimage.