Overview
- The Justice Department filed the case Thursday, May 7, seeking to take about 14.259 acres at the base of Mount Cristo Rey through a Declaration of Taking and valuing it at about $183,071.
- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces responded Friday with a brief urging the judge to deny immediate possession under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
- A Declaration of Taking can shift title to the government once money is deposited, which the diocese says would block its chance to fully press religious‑freedom claims.
- The government says it needs the strip for a ‘Smart Wall’ that would add fencing, roads, lighting, cameras and sensors to bolster Border Patrol operations in the El Paso region.
- Mount Cristo Rey draws tens of thousands of pilgrims to a 29‑foot statue of Jesus each year, and church filings warn new barriers would cut off routes, with the broader fight shaped by recent reports of border work damaging other sacred Indigenous sites.