(RNS) — The Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, signaled in a legal filing it intends to fight the Trump administration’s fast-moving attempts to seize its land through eminent domain to extend the southern border wall.

The land targeted by the federal government is at the base of Mount Cristo Rey, a mountain and pilgrimage site topped by a 29-foot-tall limestone statue of Jesus Christ that dates back to 1940. The diocese said the border wall would obstruct pilgrimage routes.

“The erection of a border wall through or along this holy site could irreparably damage its religious and cultural sanctity, obstruct pilgrimage routes, and transfer sacred space into a symbol of division,” the Diocese of Las Cruces said, according to legal documents.

Seizing the land or constructing physical barriers would “constitute a significant infringement on religious freedom and the rights of worship, which are protected under both the First Amendment to the U.S.…