A New Mexico Mountain with Christ at the Top Is the Latest Battleground in U.S. Immigration Debate

A New Mexico Mountain with Christ at the Top Is the Latest Battleground in U.S. Immigration Debate

Pilgrims hike to the top of Mount Cristo Rey for Mass in the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on June 28, 2026. The mountain has become the site of a dispute between the diocese and the federal government over the seizure of land for a border wall. Mount Cristo Rey in the Diocese of Las Cruces stands over a disputed patch of borderland that the U.S. government is attempting to seize from the Catholic Church.

Mountain with Christ at the top is at center of U.S. immigration debate

Deacon Jim Winder, the chancellor of the Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico, says the diocese, which sits along the U.S.-Mexico border, is “not against border security.” “We’ve been accused of that, and it’s not correct,” he told EWTN News. In 2021 the diocese allowed federal immigration officials to build an access road and place motion sensors on diocesan-owned land that runs alongside Mexico, an arrangement the diocese renewed in 2023. “They…