Plans for border wall across Mount Cristo Rey encounters resistance

A plan to build more than 1 mile of a border wall between the United States and Mexico at Mount Cristo Rey near Sunland Park is getting pushback from some, including the Las Cruces Diocese.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said a border wall would be located along the southern part of the mountain. The move is part of a wider Donald Trump administration effort for immigration and border enforcement.

The wall would be 1.32 miles of new border barrier in Doña Ana County. The 30-foot tall steel barrier would be accompanied by additional roads.

University of Texas El Paso Associate Professor Jeremy Slack, the chair of the university’s Sociology and Anthropology Department, said the construction in the area of the northern Chihuahuan Desert would likely have little impact on the number of migrants crossing the border but would lead to more deaths from migrants seeking to cross the border. 

“What we've really seen is the presence of more walls and more barriers generally leads people to take bigger risks,” he told the Las Cruces Bulletin in a phone interview.

He said this leads to more injuries, emergency room visits and even deaths as migrants “take a riskier route to avoid some of these structures.”

Another impact would be that migrants would become more reliant on smugglers, Slack said. 

He said that in areas with border walls, it’s common to see “makeshift ladders that are just tossed up over the border wall.”

One type of such ladder is made from rebar and hangs over each side of the wall. These usually are the work of smugglers, he said.

“Things like that don't require a ton of sophistication, but usually somebody is kind of controlling those pieces,” he said.

Environmental groups have said that border walls have impacts on wildlife, as well as have potential for increased erosion.

Slack noted the problems with drainage.

“These barriers tend to get washed out, they create problems and runoff that can either create flooding in other areas or they themselves fall apart,” he said. “This is something that's been well documented up and down the border.”

He also noted that there are significant cultural and historic sites in the area, including places where dinosaur tracks have been found and studied by scientists.

Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument said in a newsletter that the border wall has impacted many wildlife crossing across the Southwest and that, in turn, impacts the overall environment.

Conservationists have also said there is active hiking and biking on Mount Cristo Rey.

CBP is able to bypass environmental laws through a waiver authorized by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The Las Cruces Diocese opposes the wall in that location, citing Mount Cristo Rey’s religious significance.

The mountain is home to a 29-foot statue of Jesus Christ. For nearly 100 years, pilgrims have ascended the mountain to worship at the statue, including as part of the annual Christ the King pilgrimage.

According to the Diocese, thousands come to the site to engage in this pilgrimage and view the mountain not just as a monument, “but also as a place of prayer where faith transcends borders.”

The Diocese has said in a statement that it has denied any U.S. Department of Justice efforts to access land owned by the Diocese to evaluate the potential for possible construction of a border wall.

When contacted by the Las Cruces Bulletin, the Las Cruces 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, which are protected under both the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.”

Slack said that already there is a high border patrol presence in the area.

“Every time you go up there, you’re going to see multiple border patrol cars,” he said.

CBP did not respond to a request for comment by press time, but has told other media outlets that Mount Cristo Rey and other areas of border wall would “close critical gaps in the border wall and enhance border security operations in the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Paso, Tucson and Yuma Sectors.”