The rumors surrounding McCall’s Pumpkin Patch began circulating via social media on Monday, October 6, 2025. Numerous individuals messaged the Mountainair Dispatch, stating that County Commissioner Kevin McCall was bringing ICE agents to McCall’s Pumpkin Patch. One called and advised that “Albuquerque’s teachers’ union” had told them about a boycott of McCall’s Pumpkin Patch. Online research revealed criticism of McCall and his business in an email posted on the Albuquerque Teachers Federation (ATF) Facebook page, which described McCall as “an unquestioning supporter (literally) of using the Torrance County Detention Center to house people detained by ICE.” The email makes no mention of a boycott of McCall’s Pumpkin Patch.
The social media reaction was adverse for McCall and his business. On Reddit, in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Santa Fe sub-reddits, users posted responses to the ATF’s statement with varying degrees of both accuracy and vitriol.
At 11:31 AM on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, McCall’s Pumpkin Patch posted a response to the ATF email and to other social media commentary generally.
McCall’s Pumpkin Patch posted that McCall had “voted to keep the community jail open, which also houses immigrants.” The business said that Torrance County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Ryan Schwebach was “outraged” by the ATF email “trying to link [McCall’s Pumpkin Patch] to the Detention Center & the politics exploding across the country today.”
On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, approximately an hour after the McCall’s Pumpkin Patch post, Torrance County posted an unsigned letter on its Facebook page that expressed the intent of the Torrance County Commission to discuss at the October 8, 2025, county commission meeting “communications being made on social media platforms by the Albuquerque Teacher’s Union [sic] and other community groups regarding the County Commission’s historic votes to support the Torrance County Detention Facility through the approval of an intergovernmental agreement with ICE, and how that vote is being used to discourage individuals from attending McCall’s Pumpkin Patch.”
On October 7, 2025, the ATF provided a response to Torrance County’s Facebook statement at 2:54 PM. ATF wrote that McCall mischaracterized his vote to “keep the community jail open,” as McCall had really voted to extend the county’s contract with ICE.
At the October 8, 2025, meeting of the Torrance County Commissioners, Commissioner McCall and Chairman Schwebach discussed their position in support of McCall’s Pumpkin Patch. McCall made a statement in support of his family’s business and in opposition to allegations that ICE had a connection with McCall’s Pumpkin Patch.
“Discussion in response to social media … connecting ICE with McCall’s pumpkin patch. Our [the McCall family’s] business is no way communicating or working with ICE. This is utterly false. From its start, 28 years ago, our mission at McCall’s Pumpkin Patch has always been to provide fun, family friendly place for our guests to make cherished memories. And we welcome all families – and I say all families – to McCall’s to make it part of their New Mexico fall tradition. And that concludes my statement, Mr. Chairman.”…