Border Wall Blasting Begins on New Mexico’s Mount Cristo Rey, Cherished by Catholics

The Trump administration has begun blasting Mount Cristo Rey near El Paso to construct a 1.3-mile border wall, with contractor SLSCO holding a $95 million contract for the project. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem waived more than two dozen federal laws in June 2025, including the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act, to expedite construction on the mountain—a site sacred to Catholics for the Christ the King statue and annual Good Friday pilgrimages. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, which owns most of the mountain, opposed the project and denied Department of Justice requests for property access, warning the wall would transform a place of "hope, faith, and communion" into one of "fear, exclusion and division." Construction has already altered the landscape with explosions and heavy equipment along the 60-mile Roosevelt Reservation, and the area was designated a National Defense Area last year, making unauthorized entry subject to trespassing charges. Thousands of pilgrims are expected to ascend the mountain during the upcoming Good Friday observance above an active construction zone.