Sponsor
Veronica Escobar
Representative · D-TX
Representative · D-TX
The bill protects religious access and the historical character of Mount Cristo Rey by prohibiting federal seizure and security construction there, but it reduces federal border-enforcement options, may delay federal legal action, and can shift costs to state or local entities.
Religious groups, pilgrims, and local visitors keep uninterrupted access and religious use of Mount Cristo Rey because the bill bars federal seizure or alteration of the site.
Border communities and cultural stakeholders keep the site's historical and cultural character intact because the bill prevents federal construction of walls, fencing, cameras, or lighting at or near Mount Cristo Rey.
Taxpayers face lower immediate federal spending related to eminent-domain litigation and site security because the bill blocks federal funding for those specific projects.
Border communities and federal border-security agencies lose a site where federal enforcement tools could be used, reducing federal flexibility for border security operations near Mount Cristo Rey.
The Justice Department and federal litigants could be prevented from pursuing or resolving a pending federal eminent-domain lawsuit, delaying legal resolution of land claims.
State or local governments and local taxpayers may have to absorb enforcement, construction, or legal costs that the federal government is blocked from covering.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal funds from being used to pursue eminent domain or certain security measures related to Mount Cristo Rey and the named federal lawsuit.
Official title: To prohibit the exercise of the right of eminent domain with respect to Mount Cristo Rey.
Introduced July 16, 2026 by Veronica Escobar · Last progress July 16, 2026
Prohibits the federal government from using any funds to pursue eminent domain litigation or related actions to seize or take land at Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico, and bars federal funding for certain security measures on or near that site. It also cites findings that the site is a religious pilgrimage location owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces and identifies a named federal lawsuit as the specific matter the prohibition addresses.