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Torrance County commissioners will confront a public controversy that has spilled over into targeting a commissioner’s private business, as officials defend their decision to maintain a federal immigration enforcement agreement despite community opposition.
The Wednesday administrative meeting will include discussion of “McCall’s Pumpkin Patch and Torrance County’s Intergovernmental Agreement with the US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” referencing what appears to be efforts to boycott Vice Chair Kevin McCall’s business over the county’s immigration policies.
County Manager J. Jordan Barela issued a statement Tuesday clarifying that the agenda item addresses “ongoing public communications being made on social media platforms by the Albuquerque Teachers’ Union and other community groups” regarding the commission’s support for the Torrance County Detention Facility through its ICE agreement.
Barela said these communications are “being used to discourage individuals from attending McCall’s Pumpkin Patch” and emphasized “there is no interconnection between the private businesses of individual commissioners and the decision made by the County Commission regarding the ICE agreement.”
According to a statement posted online by McCall’s Pumpkin Patch, the controversy appears to have been sparked by an email from the “Albuquerque Public Schools teachers union president” to district teachers, titled “McCall’s Prison Patch?” which attempted to link the family business to the county’s detention center and immigration policies.
In their statement, the McCall family said the email tried to connect their pumpkin patch to the detention center, “and the politics exploding across the country today.” The family said Commission Chair Ryan Schwebach was “outraged by this act” and requested the agenda item for Wednesday’s meeting.
“Social media and other media outlets have turned this into a string of lies,” the McCall family statement said. “In no way has ICE been involved in any of this and in no way do the McCalls have any contact with ICE. ICE has certainly not been invited to the farm, as all are welcome.”
The family noted that McCall, who has served as county commissioner for seven years, voted about 18 months ago to keep the county jail open, which also houses immigrants.
Barela’s statement emphasized that commission decisions “are made by evaluating the comprehensive impact of those decisions on the County and its municipalities” and that commissioners wish to address the public comments while reiterating the separation between personal businesses and public policy decisions.
The meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. at 205 S. Ninth Street in Estancia, will be available via Zoom through the county’s website at www.torrancecountynm.org/calendar.
Beyond the immigration debate, commissioners will consider major organizational changes, including dissolving six fire districts to create two consolidated districts and reviewing plans for a $20,800 emergency operations center in Moriarty.
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