EL PASO, Texas \u2014 Under the calm silhouette of Mount Cristo Rey, where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico meet, the sound of controlled explosions now echoes across the border.<\/p>\n
Federal crews are blasting through rock to clear the way for a new stretch of border wall, construction that is visible from both sides of the U.S.\u2013Mexico boundary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis infrastructure going in will give Border Patrol agents access directly to the border,\u201d said Rodney Scott, commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.<\/p>\n
The construction is taking place in an area that holds deep cultural and religious meaning for communities on both sides of the border. At the summit of Mount Cristo Rey stand religious monuments that draw thousands of Americans and Mexicans each year, many walking the mountain as an expression of faith.<\/p>\n
But Border Patrol officials say the same terrain has also become a frequent crossing point for migrants entering the United States illegally.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgents used to be only at the north of it, and the smugglers had the high point,\u201d Scott said. \u201cIt takes all that away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project is funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July 2025, which allocates approximately $47 billion for border wall expansion nationwide. Scott said the goal is to create a cost-effective security zone that allows agents to cover more ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole idea is to slow down the flow of somebody coming in so that agents can spread out farther,\u201d Scott said. \u201cAs a taxpayer, you get more return on your investment for the hours a Border Patrol agent puts in every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spectrum News has previously documented activity in this area, including groups waiting on the Mexican side of the border for an opportunity to cross.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can see, we have a group of subjects that are on the Mexican side of the area,\u201d said Orlando Marrero-Rubio of the Border Patrol El Paso Sector in footage from last year. \u201cFrom experience, they are just waiting for us to leave the area so they can try coming to the country illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n
For residents of Sunland Park, New Mexico, a small city at the base of Mount Cristo Rey, encounters with migrants descending the mountain and hiding in neighborhoods were once common.<\/p>\n
\u201cBorder Patrol used to come into the parking lot more often, but I had to kind of close up my fence lines,\u201d said resident Robert Ardovino in 2021.<\/p>\n
Lore Nu\u00f1ez, another Sunland Park resident, said migration activity used to be constant.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day, at every moment, there was a lot of migration, many people coming down from the mountain, many hiding,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said.<\/p>\n
But many residents say that has changed. According to the Department of Homeland Security, illegal crossings in this area over the past year have dropped to almost zero. Still, the new construction leaves the community with mixed emotions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time it\u2019s good, and at the same time I think it\u2019s not good,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said. \u201cThey are going to destroy the mountain. But now I have seen a lot of surveillance and fewer people crossing.\u201d<\/p>\n
As blasting continues beneath a mountain sacred to many, residents are left weighing security against preservation and questioning whether the noise now echoing through the desert is the answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas \u2014 Under the calm silhouette of Mount Cristo Rey, where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[3645,2160,132,1570,102,138,140,139,25382,1724,8074,223,287,82,27,1569,2053,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-157169","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-el-paso","8":"tag-app-national-politics","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-ctv","12":"tag-dallas","13":"tag-el-paso","14":"tag-el-paso-headlines","15":"tag-el-paso-news","16":"tag-from-the-border","17":"tag-immigration","18":"tag-luis-garcia","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-san-antonio","22":"tag-texas","23":"tag-texas-what-you-need-to-know","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}