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Feds seek to build border wall segment along Mount Cristo Rey; public can submit comments through July 3 [1]

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Date: 2025-07-02

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – Federal officials are planning to construct a new 1.3-mile-long segment of the border wall on Mount Cristo Rey to close gaps in the barrier at the base of the mountain.

A group of activists is calling on the public to protest the new barrier, which they say would not halt humans from attempting to migrate but would block the migration of animals and disrupt the area’s ecology. The public has until the end of the day Thursday to submit comments or concerns about the project.

The proposed border wall segment would not intersect with the hiking trail on the north side of the mountain that leads up to the 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Christ at the peak.

A map published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows where the proposed border wall addition would be located. The trail up the mountain is located on the northern side of Mount Cristo Rey. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

“Folks that are using (Mount Cristo Rey) for the pilgrimages are going to experience and feel the presence of that construction,” said Sydney Monroe, an El Paso-based organizer protesting the wall’s construction. “We’re calling on folks to give their comment to CBP, to tell them that this wall isn’t going to be helpful. And it’s destructive in more ways than one.”

The public can submit comments to CBP about the proposed border barrier by emailing [email protected] or by calling 833-412-2056, which will become part of the public record. The agency says emailed comments should include “El Paso Sector Border Barrier Construction” in the subject line.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in a statement said new border barriers at Mount Cristo Rey and at other segments of the U.S.-Mexico border will “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.”

A CBP spokesman said migrants have illegally entered the U.S. in recent years through the opening in the border wall on the western base of Mount Cristo Rey across from the Anapra neighborhood. Journalists in Mexico have also documented that smugglers make money by crossing migrants into the U.S. at that point.

The number of people attempting to cross into the U.S. has slowed significantly over the last year. In May, CBP reported encountering about 65 people per day along the El Paso sector of the southern border, compared with over 750 daily encounters in this region at the same time last year.

CBP didn’t respond to questions about the cost to build the new segment of border barrier on the mountain. But the price to construct a barrier along the southern border depends on the local environment and topology, and contractors can build longer segments at a cheaper price per mile.

In mid-June, CBP awarded a contract to the construction firm Fisher Sand & Gravel – which in 2019 constructed a half-mile segment of border fencing in Sunland Park, New Mexico – to build 27 miles of new border wall in Arizona. That contract is worth $309 million – or about $11.4 million per mile.

Building the segment on Mount Cristo Rey could cost more on a per-mile basis because of the difficult, sloped terrain, said Erick Meza, the Arizona-based border program director for the Sierra Club.

The Department of Homeland Security also recently waived environmental laws to expedite construction of the wall at Mount Cristo Rey, as well as at other locations along the border. Congress appropriated the funding back in 2021 for new segments of wall along the southern border.

“When they apply the waivers to a certain area, that means that they can skip all of those laws or ignore every single law in regards to the environment and best building practices,” Meza said.

Mt. Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico, as seen from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter on Dec. 14, 2021. Mt. Cristo Rey is a common area for migrants and smugglers to enter the United States in the El Paso sector. (Justin Hamel / The Texas Tribune)

The CBP spokesman said the agency plans to install manual flood gates along the new border wall to provide drainage and prevent flooding, similar to flood gates that exist along segments of the border wall near Anapra.

Building the new wall segment would also require creating a patrol road between 12- and 24-feet wide, and clearing out staging areas to stack construction materials. CBP would also use water to tamp down dust from construction.

Opponents of the new border wall on Mount Cristo Rey argued the fencing doesn’t deter people from attempting to migrate into the U.S.

Earlier this week, video published by the widely-followed social media account FitFam showed a group of people climbing through a hole that was cut through the border fencing near Paisano Drive. The group left in a waiting vehicle before law enforcement arrested them in a Westside neighborhood.

The 30-foot-tall bollard wall that CBP is proposing to build on Mount Cristo Rey, though, is different from the meshed fence the video shows the group entering through. The six-inch diameter steel bollards are separated four inches apart and are filled with concrete.

Migrants have been badly injured from scaling the fencing and falling off, and Meza said he was concerned migrants could die while trying to cross the fence on the mountain.

Mount Cristo Rey “is almost like an outdoor church,” he said. “So, all of a sudden, you’re going to have people dying in your outdoor church.”

And by closing the gap at the mountain’s base, migrants may instead look to cross in the remote, scorching desert areas outside of El Paso where hundreds have died while trying to make the journey in recent years.

“Smuggling is going to happen no matter what,” Monroe said.

The new segment of fencing “is just going to make it more dangerous for the people who are trying to cross,” she said. “I don’t think that building a wall is going to be the thing that disempowers the smugglers.”

Border Patrol agent Valeria Morales speaks with a 17-year-old Guatemalan girl who was detained on Mount Cristo Rey on April 8. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Animal migration is another concern. In 2017, a Mexican wolf “came very close to the Texas border on the outskirts of Juárez,” said Rick LoBello, a founder of the Texas Lobo Coalition, which seeks to restore Mexican wolf populations in West Texas.

“At that time, the border wall was not as complete as it is today, and with plans to expand it on Mount Cristo Rey, if the wolf or other species that like to move back and forth were to come this way again, chances are it would never be able to cross anymore,” LoBello said.

The CBP spokesman said human migration through Mount Cristo Rey has led to trash piling up at points.

Monroe said she hopes greater awareness of the potential new border segment leads to more El Pasoans speaking out against it.

“This is going to be really hard to stop,” Meza said, “but at least we’re putting some resistance up.”

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[1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/07/02/border-wall-construction-mount-cristo-rey-el-paso/

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