It was just before dawn in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and the congregation were arriving for the Friday service at the tiny La Lomita Catholic Chapel.

The whitewashed building, which has been here since the days of the American Civil War, rises from the surrounding scrub and sits about 200 yards from the Rio Grande river itself.

As cars pulled up to the chapel, the sound of Father Roy Snipes' barking dogs signalled his arrival. He has been the priest here for almost half a century - and is known locally as the Cowboy Priest.

"I'm not sure why I picked that up, but it's nice," he said of the nickname.

In truth, it is pretty obvious why. Snipes wears a Stetson in place of the more traditional priest's hat. And moments later, the chapel was filled by the sound of a Roy Rogers song - the singer and actor known as the King of the Cowboys.

During the first Trump administration, Snipes resisted plans to seize the chapel's land to build the US president's border wall.…