(EAGLE PASS, TEXAS) -- The city council in this border town today is expected to declare Jesus Christ to be surplus property.
The council's action will open the way for a life sized statue of Jesus which washed up on a sand bar on the Rio Grande in August and has since become an object of veneration and mystery to find a permanent home.
The statue was clearly once part of a large crucifix. The figure's arms are outstretched in what many people see as a welcoming gesture, and pilgrims from as far away as Canada and southern Mexico have claimed that what has come to be known as 'Christ of the Undocumenteds,' is a 'sign' that the United States should become more welcoming to illegal immigrants.
"We have had more than three thousand people from around the country and from other countries, mainly Mexico, come to pay homage to the statue in our evidence room," Eagle Pass Police Chief Juan Casteneda told 1200 WOAI news.
He said there is no room to keep the statue and now that 90 days have passed and nobody has claimed it, it can be declared surplus, and donated to an organization which is 'willing to keep it and display it.'
Many of the faithful have compared the statue to the tens of thousands of people who enter the U.S. illegally in this desperately poor border town west of San Antonio. They point out that this Jesus himself is an illegal immigrant and was sent to comfort and encourage others.
When the statue was first spotted in the river August 31, officials thought it was a body and launched a rescue operation.
Casteneda said the statue, with its unknown origins, has attracted a large following, especially in Mexico, where national television networks have told its story to people nationwide.
"If it were up to me, I would donate the statue to a Catholic Church here in Eagle Pass," Casteneda said.
Eleven groups have requested permission from city council to take custody of the statue and display it.