ESTANCIA — When a private prison on the outskirts of this hardscrabble town of about 1,300 people in the heart of New Mexico closed eight years ago, Javier Sanchez said the end result was devastating to the rural and largely agricultural community.

The Torrance County Detention Facility, which houses primarily undocumented immigrants, is considered an economic lifeline for the Estancia area, employing some 150 to 200 people and accounting for about two-thirds of the town’s gross receipts tax revenue.

Signs of struggle permeate the town, from shuttered businesses to abandoned and boarded-up homes. A water supply crisis due to a dropping level in the town’s well has prompted officials to make a plea for residents — and the detention center, built to hold about 900 people — to conserve.

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