State adds $4.2 million to finish stalled infrastructure projects along US-Mexico border

The state of New Mexico will allocate an additional $4.2 million to complete economic development projects along the Mexican border, aiming to bolster trade and attract businesses to the area.

The new round of funding from the state’s general fund, announced Tuesday, makes for a total of $11.9 million for the state Economic Development Department and the New Mexico Border Authority to move forward with more than 10 projects, which were stalled due to post-pandemic inflation, mainly in construction materials, said NMBA Executive Director Gerardo Fierro.

The money will fund feasibility studies and planning for ports of entry, transportation corridors, utilities and site readiness, state officials said.

Among the projects is the Border Highway Connector, a new 8-mile road connecting the Santa Teresa Port of Entry with the city of Sunland Park in Doña Ana County. The design for the highway will be finalized next April, Fierro said.

“Our infrastructure is at a crossroads, where the state has to make a strategic investment to grow infrastructure to be able to attract new businesses, new industries,” Fierro said.

Mexico is the United States’ top trading partner, and the state of Chihuahua, bordering New Mexico, is the top Mexican exporter state to the U.S., according to Fierro. Imports and exports from Mexico into both Santa Teresa and Columbus have grown significantly in recent years, he said.

New Mexico loses a significant portion of trade with Chihuahua because of a lack of infrastructure, he added.

“We’re now, with decent basic investments, able to capture this,” Fierro said.

The funding will also go toward design and planning for water tanks and wastewater ponds in Santa Teresa and the village of Columbus, expansions to the Santa Teresa Port of Entry, as well as road and drainage upgrades in Hidalgo County, which state officials hope will be completed within the next year, Fierro said.

Drainage improvements are badly needed at some parts of the border, said Jerry Pacheco, executive director of the nonprofit International Business Accelerator. 

“We’ve had terrible problems at Columbus Port of Entry,” Pacheco said. “When it would rain, it would flood the area around the port of entry and all the parking lots. So a lot of the land that could be developed there is impossible to develop because of the lack of drainage and berm.”

The renovations along the border, which have been in the works for several years, are part of a statewide effort to attract outside business to New Mexico with “shovel-ready” land primed for building.

Just two out of the 80-some companies in the state industrial parks near the border are based in New Mexico, Pacheco said. 

“That tells you we’re attracting a lot of out-of-state money, which really is pure economic development,” he said.

In September, construction began on a massive AI data center, dubbed Project Jupiter, in Santa Teresa, which Fierro called a “$165 billion investment for southern New Mexico.”

The Santa Teresa industrial base accounts for more than 60% of New Mexico’s exports to the world, Pacheco said. 

“This infrastructure allows us to create jobs and keep recruiting companies in what traditionally had been one of New Mexico’s poorest areas, but now is one of the hottest areas for economic development in the state,” Pacheco said.

Natalie Robbins covers the economy and health care for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.