[5] Though it lies adjacent to El Paso, being in Doña Ana County makes it a part of the Las Cruces metropolitan statistical area.

In February 2012, then-Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Salinas and City Manager Jaime Aguilera were arrested and charged with extortion of mayoral candidate Gerardo Hernandez.

[8] The barrier in Sunland Park also blocked access to Monument One, an official marker of the International Boundary and Water Commission that was set where New Mexico, Texas and the Mexican state of Chihuahua converge.

[9] Lighting along the stretch was shut off in 2021 after the group failed to pay electricity bills, and the owner of the land upon which the wall stood owed property taxes and penalties.

[10] The group's leaders built only two small stretches of wall/fencing, while defrauding donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars, which were diverted to personal expenses.

[11] Among the group's organizers, Brian Kolfage pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and a tax offense; Steve Bannon was also criminally charged, but accepted a pardon from Donald Trump during his final hours as president.

[12] The city sits close to the unincorporated community of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, another border town.

[13] As of January 2024, sixteen marijuana dispensaries operated in Sunland Park, the second-most in the state (after Albuquerque, which has a much larger population).

[21][12] Sunland Park is served by the Gadsden Independent School District, which operates these schools located in the city: Sunland Park also has a branch campus of Doña Ana Community College, a two-year college branch of New Mexico State University.