Border Patrol reopens highway checkpoints in New Mexico

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — Border Patrol checkpoints that closed in New Mexico when personnel were reassigned to assist the processing of asylum-seekers earlier this year have reopened.

The Alamogordo Daily News reported this week that two checkpoints have reopened on two highways in Otero County.

The closure in March prompted county officials to declare a state of emergency and ask Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to send National Guard troops to staff the checkpoints.

Alamogordo and county officials said the checkpoint closures resulted in more drugs moving through the area and a crime increase.

Four other checkpoints have reopened near Las Cruces, N.M., and El Paso, Texas.