The families who fled the Mexican Revolution and settled in the Texas border town of Rudiosa carved out spaces for themselves within a country that could be selective in its promises of equality. The Mexican American residents there responded to the daily realities of segregated schools, voter disenfranchisement, and wage inequality by organizing as a collective; the construction of El Corazón Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesús (The Sacred Heart of the Church of Jesus) was a physical manifestation of this resilience, offering a shared sanctuary that came to represent a beacon of hope for a more just and equal future.

After the church was abandoned in the 1950s, the adobe began to erode. Water and wind quickly deteriorated the traditional material, as it was no longer receiving regular maintenance.

Following years of neglect, local advocacy efforts were successful in preventing demolition, and the Catholic Diocese of El Paso eventually deeded the church to Presidio County, which in turn transferred the property to the nonprofit Friends of the Ruidosa Church in 2019. Today, the Friends regularly host community days and adobe-making workshops, and have now stabilized the bell tower, repaired the roof, and brought water and electricity back to the site.

Still, a great deal of work remains to complete the preservation, protection, and reactivation of the building. The church’s interior is open to the elements, and heavy rains cause water to pool, damaging the adobe. And now, a proposed new U.S. border wall is planned to be constructed within a few hundred yards of the church, cutting it off from the Rio Grande River and from communities across the border, and advocates are concerned that vibrations from the heavy construction equipment traveling regularly in close proximity to the church could potentially impact the church’s fragile adobe, particularly the freestanding adobe arches.

The Friends of the Ruidosa Church plan to transform the church and several nearby historic sites into a hub for the small Latine community that remains connected to the church, as well as a vital anchor for the broader community and a central venue for reconnecting people through shared heritage and cultural celebrations.

The Friends have completed a Historic Structure Report with funding from the Texas Historical Commission and are exploring the use of historic tax credits to help fund rehabilitation efforts. In 2025, the church was named to the first national list of Endangered Latinx Landmarks by the esteemed nonprofit Latinos in Heritage Conservation, highlighting the value of Latinx history in the broader narrative of American heritage.

El Corazón Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesús was named to the National Trust's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2026.