Trump Border Wall Threatens 20-Year Ruidosa Church Restoration in West Texas
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24
Trump Border Wall Threatens 20-Year Ruidosa Church Restoration in West Texas
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24
Summary
Ruidosa’s adobe church — El Corazón Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesús — faces a new risk as Trump’s border wall is planned just yards away, potentially undermining a 20-year volunteer restoration effort.
Construction vibrations could damage the church’s fragile structure, preservationists say, even as administration officials argue the barrier is needed to deter violent drug traffickers in the remote Chihuahuan desert.
The site is one of dozens of historical places across the Southwest endangered by wall work, including a 1,000-year-old Arizona earth etching, ancient Texas cave murals and Underground Railroad landmarks.
For local residents and historians, the church embodies a shared U.S.-Mexico past in which border communities once worshiped together, making the fight over the wall also a fight over Latino history.
Will ongoing legal challenges successfully halt construction before irreversible vibration damage fractures the fragile adobe walls of the Ruidosa church?
What hidden archaeological treasures might be lost forever as new infrastructure cuts through the remote Chihuahuan desert?
Could the heavy machinery meant to secure the border ultimately shatter a century-old symbol of shared heritage in West Texas?