Santa Teresa is a census-designated place in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, United States. It is home to the Santa Teresa Port of Entry and is part of the Las Cruces Metropolitan Statistical Area, although geographically it is considerably closer to El Paso, Texas, than to Las Cruces. While the United States Census Bureau has defined Santa Teresa as a CDP, the census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name.