by Gina
I want to inform my fellow Santa Feans that on February 10th I walked past the old K-Mart building on St. Michaels Dr. (between Llano and 5th St.) because I’d heard a rumor that it might be an ICE facility. There were signs posted at the entrance to the huge building saying it was a federal facility and that the public was not allowed to enter. The views inside were all blocked. As I stood there looking, two people in military/police type clothing came out to ask what I wanted. I asked what the building was being used for and they said it was connected to FEMA which had a small “claims office” attached to their building to their right. As I was nervous and left quickly after that I could not recall for sure if I’d seen the two guards armed or not.
So on March 25th I went back to take a better look. On that day there was far more activity than the first time I’d been there. People in civilian clothing were coming and going through the entrance; some with paperwork and one with foldable cardboard banker's boxes. They looked like employees or attendees at a presentation/training. I approached two women walking to their car and asked them what building they had just come out of. One a further distance from me whispered, “Oh, shoot….” The other avoided my eye contact and said it was a federal office. I asked for specifically what kind and she replied, “a call center for taxes”. I said that a few weeks ago I was told the same building was for FEMA and she said that she didn’t know any more and she suggested I call their 800 number but did not have that number. She walked away from me at that point and said, “We’re here to help the Santa Fe community…” The other woman who’d said “shoot” at first then said to me a genuine “Sorry” as she went to enter her car, but she didn’t say sorry for what. I felt sure enough about who they worked for so I said to her and the other woman, “And I’m sorry that you have to take this work, but you do what ya gotta do…” They did not dispute or respond to what I’d said but just got into their car.
As they drove off, two guards came out of the building and approached me (like the first time). They were also in military/police attire. I took a better look and noted that they both had large black guns in holsters on their right hips. They wore no identifiers. When I asked what the building was being used for they said FEMA, in contradiction to what the two women had just said. I left.
I then walked to the little office attached to the big facility. It had “FEMA” signs on it and was open to the public. I entered and the small office was empty except for a guard dressed similarly to the guards I’d just talked to. He said we were in a FEMA office. I asked how it was related to the bigger office and he said it was related but he didn’t know how. He had a large black gun in a holster on his right hip. I left.
The facility is huge, much larger than needed for just office workers. I’m just speculating, but I fear that the large building is a new detention facility…
Perhaps others of you reading this could go there yourselves to see? If it is being used as a secret detention facility, more of our presence there could discourage its growth, and lives of our neighbors could actually be saved.
