Thread: {Sob}Vignettes: Nun fears for detainees' children

May 15, 2008


Vignettes: Nun fears for detainees' children

BY NIGEL DUARA AND CYNTHIA REYNAUD

Children of Agriprocessors Inc. workers detained by federal agents this week might not be cared for if the detainees were afraid to tell immigration officials that they have children, Sister Mary McCauley of St. Bridget's Catholic Church said.

Sister McCauley said she's worried that those who were detained after Monday's raid at the plant were afraid their children would be arrested.

"Some could still be in an apartment, maybe with an aunt or older brother or sister," Sister McCauley said. "How would they get food if they're afraid to go outside?"

She said her concerns were echoed by many inside the church, where illegal immigrants have gathered seeking sanctuary.

"How do we get into the houses to find out, when they're afraid to open the door?" Sister McCauley said.

Trevor Seibert, who owns 20 apartments in Postville that he said are mostly rented by Hispanics, said he went door to door to check whether any children had been left unsupervised.

He said he found all children with an adult, but now fears that many apartments have been left unoccupied by workers who fled Postville after the raid.

Seibert said he didn't issue rental applications to his tenants, and each of them was on a month-to-month lease. When he began to rent apartments to tenants who worked at Agriprocessors about 10 years ago, they were young single men, "a little wild for our community," he said.

Since then, he said, there have been more families moving into the area and into his apartments.

"We liked our families," he said. "Those were our friends and neighbors. You didn't come into town and roust out a bunch of illegal immigrants. You came into town and rousted out our neighbors, our friends."

"I don't feel safer today than before."

250 seeking refuge at St. Bridget's

About 250 people are continuing to seek refuge at Postville's St. Bridget's Catholic Church, officials said Wednesday.

Sister McCauley said many of the people in the church are illegal immigrants seeking refuge. Most have "intense financial needs," she said.

The people in the church need money for lawyers, Sister McCauley said. Their financial difficulties are made worse because they are not working.

People staying at the church are also having trouble getting information about relatives who probably were detained by federal agents in Monday's raid, said Paul Real of St. Bridget's. He said that when he calls, he gets "run around" and can't locate the people he's looking for or help people in church find their relatives.

Consular official comes to help

Iowa is not new territory for Edgar Rebollar, an official with the Omaha Mexican Consulate's protection department, but that doesn't make the job any easier, he said.

"It's a hard, hard job because you deal with these people who are in a desperate situation, whose life is falling apart," he said. "

Rebollar was one of three representatives sent to Waterloo Monday to provide assistance to detained Mexican nationals. The group - two officials and one trainee - came to make sure about 60 detained Mexicans received proper treatment and observance of their rights.

The process is not new to Rebollar, who began working at the Omaha consulate in 2006. He has helped with several raids, including one in Marshalltown in December 2006.

TV cameras, helicopters and high security welcomed Rebollar when he arrived in Waterloo at 7 p.m. Monday. He had to obtain a security badge and had escorts throughout his stay.

His first priority was to address the detainees' concerns, one of which was cold accommodations.

Male detainees were given cots in fenced-off cubicles, or "cages," in an industrial-type warehouse space at Waterloo's Cattle Congress fairgrounds, Rebollar said. Each enclosure held about 50 men.

Many of the detainees were still dressed in their work clothes - rubber boots and short-sleeved shirts. Some were handcuffed.

Each was given one blanket to ward off the cold, Rebollar said. Food and showers were provided.

Rebollar likened the situation to camping.

Women were kept at the Hardin County Jail.

For 24 hours, Rebollar interviewed the frightened Mexican citizens about their treatment, spoke with them about their rights and offered assistance to get them back to Mexico, he said.

"Most of them, they want to go back to Mexico and never come back because they don't want to be in prison, live in a situation like this, with all the fear," he said.

Number absent from school drops

Cora B. Darling Elementary School Principal Chad Wahls said 120 of the school's 387 students were absent on Monday, and 50 were missing on Tuesday.

He said he's afraid the number of children absent might jump again today if parents are still afraid that federal agents might return to Postville.

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... BUSINESS04

"Most of them, they want to go back to Mexico and never come back because they don't want to be in prison, live in a situation like this, with all the fear," he said.

That's the point of attrition thru enforcement!

"Most of them, they want to go back to Mexico and never come back because they don't want to be in prison, live in a situation like this, with all the fear," he said.


That is the point...for too long they blatantly committed all kinds of crimes to remain here illegally, work illegally and now they have to pay the price. I'm glad that they want to go back to Mexico or wherever....come back here legally or not at all. But don't expect to be on a free pass anymore.