Parishioners climb Mount Cristo Rey as eminent domain case threatens shrine land<\/a><\/p>\n“The mountain, with its 29-foot statue of Christ, is visible for many miles and stands at the border of two countries and three states,” Seitz said. “It has become for people in our region a holy site marking the unity of humanity and of faith that transcends borders.”<\/p>\n
Las Cruces Bishop Peter Baldacchino also endorsed the measure, describing Mount Cristo Rey as a place that has united generations of worshippers across the Borderland.<\/p>\n
“In a world fractured by political, racial and economic divisions, Mount Cristo Rey stands out as both a powerful symbol of hope and peace and a literal pathway to unity,” Baldacchino said. “We are grateful for the actions of Rep. Escobar and other legislators in helping to preserve this important site for generations to come.”<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, she introduced an amendment during House Appropriations Committee consideration of the Fiscal Year 2027 Homeland Security Appropriations bill that would have prohibited federal funding for border wall construction at Mount Cristo Rey. The amendment was rejected by House Republicans.<\/p>\n
Federal officials previously provided the following statement:<\/p>\n
Anyone who spent thirty seconds examining a map of Mount Cristo Rey and the southern border would realize how ludicrous these claims are. Smart wall construction in this area is located within 250 feet of the southern border, well south of the Mount Cristo Rey cross and access road. The cross is located approximately A QUARTER MILE, 1,300 to 1,400 feet, north of the border ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN. Access to the shrine will not be affected, as all attendees enter from the U.S. side. The only individuals who could POSSIBLY be impacted by the border wall are illegal aliens attempting to illegally enter our country.<\/p>\n
The Mount Cristo Rey Protection Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives and will need approval from both chambers of Congress before it can become law.<\/p>\n
Sign up <\/a>to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, has introduced new legislation aimed at preventing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-384684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384684","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=384684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}