What Will Become of Postville's Undocumented Students?
Posted on: Thursday, 22 May 2008, 21:00 CDT

By Adam Belz, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

May 22--POSTVILLE -- They came here with their parents at the ages of 8, 10 or 12, and have settled into life as students in an American school.

They take their backpacks to their lockers at the end of the day and joke in the hallways. They play sports, sing in choirs and dream about going to college.

But the undocumented children who attend school in Postville, some of whom grew up there from a young age, know that the college and career they hope for are far from likely.

Nine undocumented students at Postville High School spoke with The Gazette on Wednesday. Out of concern that they could be arrested and deported, they asked that their names not be printed.

Four were from Guatemala and five were from Mexico. All were children when their parents decided to immigrate illegally and settle in northeast Iowa.

Six of the nine said one or more of their family members was detained in the May 12 raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. meatpacking plant. All said their family has either discussed leaving Postville or made the final decision.

"We're going to move back to Guatemala because we're scared about the situation," said a 15-year-old girl whose favorite classes are chorus and ninth grade English. "We're just waiting for information about my brother, because he's been detained."

She came here three years ago with her brother, sister and mother. Her mother worked at Agriprocessors but was not at work when immigration authorities raided the plant.

Even if the raid had never happened, she and other such Latino students faced little prospect for the future, Superintendent Dave Strudthoff said. They can't get into most colleges, even though they may be very good students, and they must go underground or return to their native country, which is no longer their home.

One 16-year-old boy who was born in Mexico said he wants to study mechanical engineering in college.

"It's not so very easy for me to have a career, but I'm going to try to have one," he said. "I'm going to follow my dreams and never give up."

He's a sophomore who wrestles, plays soccer and plays football. He says he has American, Israeli and Ukrainian friends.

One of his three sisters was detained in the raid, and she appeared in court Wednesday afternoon. His family will likely leave Postville once they know what's going to happen to her.

Strudthoff has in the past 10 days become a vocal advocate for finding a way to help students like this boy, as hundreds of Latinos consider leaving Postville and the uncertainty of the children's lives is highlighted.

"I think it's going to be a continual problem," said the superintendent.

At least one member of the graduating class, one of the school's top students, is undocumented, Strudthoff said. That student was not available for an interview.

A 16-year-old girl from Mexico said she wants to study pre-medicine in college in Mexico City where she spent her childhood. She came to the U.S. when she was 12.

"I think it's better here than in Mexico," she said.

But it is too expensive to go to college here because she can't get scholarships or financial aid. This was true before the raid, but now her family is thinking about leaving.

"Everything has changed," she said. "Everything feels different."

Strudthoff said he doesn't know how many Latino students in Postville came to the United States illegally, but three are in the 2008 graduating class. In this year's junior class, there are six.

In seventh and eighth grades, up to 50 percent of the students are Latino, and many of them are probably undocumented, he said.

"There's no way for me to know, and I'm not going to take the time to investigate that," he said.

On Wednesday, the students said they would simply like to be able to get a permit to go to college, since some have grown up here and are as culturally American as they are Mexican or Guatemalan.

Strudthoff has criticized Congress for not coming up with a better solution to problems stemming from illegal immigration.

Specifically, he's blasted lawmakers for failing to pass some variation of the DREAM -- for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors -- Act, which would have given the children of illegal immigrants a chance to earn permanent residency if they kept out of trouble and either went to college or joined the military for two years.

The bill failed in the U.S. Senate in October 2007. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, voted for the bill and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, voted against it. It has never come to a vote in the U.S. House. It was enough for Strudthoff to call both lawmaking bodies "absolute cowards."

Another boy, a 16-year-old 10th grader wearing a red USC sweater, was born in Guatemala. He plays on the soccer team and says he feels comfortable now in Postville, has friends there. But again, his family may leave town.

"I don't want to move," he said. "I want to study here and graduate from here."

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Source: The Gazette - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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