DEMING, N.M. (AP) -- A factory that freezes and packs food in Deming will be closing, affecting about 130 employees.
The executive director of the Mimbres Valley Authority Enterprise Community, Linda Smrkovsky, says the Proper Foods Inc. factory will close sometime between Saturday and Aug. 9.
Luna County Manager Scott Vinson says the closure is perhaps the first sign of economic hardship and a sign of things to come.
A representative from Proper Foods has declined comment.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 21 illegal immigrants at the factory last Dec. 10.
Officials say some of them had been using fake names and Social Security numbers.
ICE said the arrests stemmed from a five-month investigation of Proper Foods.
