Santa Teresa moves forward on incorporating as a New Mexico city, but Sunland Park opposes

SANTA TERESA - Residents seeking to establish the unincorporated community of Santa Teresa as a city cleared a legal hurdle in December, but there is still a ways to go before a vote to establish themselves as a new municipality.

The community is located in the southern part of Doña Ana County and is home to residential neighborhoods, three public schools governed by the Gadsden Independent School District, industrial facilities and the Santa Teresa Port of Entry. Per 2019 U.S. Census data, its population is approximately 5,500.

The Provisional Government of Santa Teresa has sought to incorporate as a city since 2015, but Doña Ana County commissioners referred them to the neighboring city of Sunland Park.

That's because, in 2014, Sunland Park had expressed interest in possibly annexing the territory itself, and the county argued that that the provisional government would need to petition the city first. That decision was affirmed by the Third Judicial District Court in 2016, but in 2018 it was reversed by the state Court of Appeals — ruling that Sunland Park had not formally annexed the territory.

Read more: https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2021/01/16/santa-teresa-moves-forward-incorporating-dona-ana-county-new-city/4144542001/
(Las Cruces Sun-News)