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Impact of Swift raid still being felt
Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky


Santiaga Lopez, Marleny Navarro's sister-in-law, holds Adelfa as Lopez's daughter, Blanca, sits near a pot of homemade tamales. Lopez's husband and Navarro were arrested during the Swift raid in Greeley.
STORY TOOLS


By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
May 12, 2007
GREELEY - Nearly four months after immigration officials raided the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant, Juana Velazquez finally got her husband back.
But their problems aren't over.

Velazquez's husband was among the 261 suspected illegal immigrants arrested Dec. 12 after the raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Swift's Greeley headquarters. ICE agents also raided five other Swift plants nationwide and arrested 1,282 workers.

After sitting in an Aurora detention facility for 15 weeks, Manuel Velazquez was allowed to post bail on April 3. He will appear in immigration court on June 20 for a deportation hearing.

He is not allowed to work, and Juana, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, said she is unable to find a job.

"I don't know how I'm going to pay the rent this month or feed my family," said the mother of five, waiting recently for the last $50 grocery gift card she would receive from a local Catholic church. "I don't know who to turn to."

The Swift raids were the largest workplace crackdown ever by ICE. Critics of illegal immigration applauded the action. But for people who were arrested and their families, the impact of the raid is still being felt.

"I think there's a general impression that the raid came and went, and that everything is back to normal. The truth is, it's not over yet," said Father Mario Ramirez, the vicar at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Greeley.

"There are mothers and fathers still being detained. Uncles and aunts are taking care of those children. People can't find work but they still have to pay rent, mortgages and groceries," Ramirez said. "There is fear and uncertainty."

Donated money dries up

After the raid, thousands of dollars were collected to help the families with basics such as food and rent. Catholic Charities USA alone has helped 130 families whose loved ones were arrested at the Swift plant.

But the money is all but gone, creating even more uncertainty.

Most of the people arrested have been deported, left the country on their own, or are waiting to appear before an immigration judge. Five others have completed sentences for having false identifications.

Fifteen to 20 workers remain in custody at the ICE detention facility in Aurora, said Christina Fiflis, a Boulder immigration attorney who has represented scores of Swift workers.

Those still in the area and their families are having a tough time finding work.

The raid has made local employers more reluctant than ever to hire anyone without proper documentation. Even those who find a job have to worry about being discovered.

Marta Morales, a mother of six who avoided arrest by hiding in the Swift plant's fabrication department, used a different name to land a job at a local restaurant. But she said she was fired after five days when a co-worker identified her as a former Swift employee.

With few options left, some families have gone back to Mexico or Guatemala. Morales hopes to stay, intending to join the ranks of migrant fieldworkers.

"There is no work in Guatemala for women like us, women with little or no skills or preparation," she said.

"Even if they pay me $5 an hour, I come out way ahead than if I was working in my home country. At least I was able to send money to my mother, who has no one to help her since my father died," she said.

She said her husband, a legal resident, has been able to pick up some extra hours at his job to make ends meet.

"I'm hoping that I'll be able to at least find farm work when the weather gets warmer," Morales said. "Maybe they won't ask for documents."

Rep. Kevin Lundberg, R-Loveland, a vocal supporter of opening an ICE office in Greeley, said he was "encouraged" by the effects of the Swift raid on the community.

He also cited legislation such as House Bill 1017. The state law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires employers to follow stricter procedures to document that new workers are here legally.

"If, in fact, more employers and employees are playing by the rules, and if people who are here illegally are finding it difficult to disobey the law, that's good news for my constituents," Lundberg said.

Children are the priority

After the raid, donations poured in from all over the country. But the safety net for families has unraveled.

"There was a tremendous response from the public. But none of us expected this to drag on this far," said Helen Somersall, director of Catholic Charities of Denver, Northern Colorado Office.

Swift donated $60,000 through United Way of Weld County for the affected families. United Way raised an additional $26,000 in private donations. A coalition, including representatives from United Way, Catholic Charities and Our Lady of Peace helped coordinate the aid.

"Our priority has been the children. We were concerned with their immediate needs, that they were housed, warm and safe. There's little left that can be done for many of the remaining families. Social services such as food stamps and Medicaid, undocumented people do not qualify for," Somersall said.

Al Frente de Lucha, a longtime Hispanic community organization, was part of the coalition helping the Swift families. But project manager Ricardo Romero left the group, frustrated by what he called "unnecessary red tape" and a lack of coordination by some of the agencies.

"They were making people jump through hoops, and that's not what these people need right now," said Romero, who said his organization raised an additional $8,000 for food.

At his storefront office in the heavily Hispanic east side of Greeley, the building covered with colorful murals of Hispanic leaders and political slogans, Romero was distributing the last of the beans, rice and other staples.

"There's not a lot we can do now for the people, but at least I'm proud to say that not one kid ended up in social services," he said. "That speaks to the cohesiveness of this community."

Among those who had stopped by for food recently were illegal Guatemalan immigrants Marleny Navarro and her sister-in-law, Santiaga Lopez.

They share a modest home with their husbands and U.S.-born children in central Greeley. Pictures of Jesus, saints, the Virgin Mary and Pope John Paul II cover the living room walls.

Navarro had worked for three years at Swift before she was arrested and released later the same evening. Lopez said her husband, also a Swift worker, was picked up and jailed for nearly four months before she raised the $10,000 her attorney said was needed to get him out. Most bonds were between $2,000 and $5,000, said Fiflis, the Boulder attorney.

Taking advantage?

Sylvia Martinez, a Greeley community activist, said a major concern was that some attorneys and notarios - notary publics that, in some parts of Latin America, are considered similar to attorneys - might be charging desperate families too much to get their loved ones out of jail.

While her husband was in jail, Lopez, who said she can neither read nor write, collected aluminum cans with Navarro. Her husband will appear before an immigration judge in August. Until then, he has worked a few labor jobs with Navarro's husband at construction sites.

"There's nothing for us in Guatemala but poverty and sadness," said Lopez, whose primary language is a dialect called K'iche. "There, we planted corn and beans. My husband made $11 a day - on a good day."

Navarro was seven months pregnant when she was taken into custody. She was given the option of voluntary departure or a hearing before a judge. She chose the hearing, scheduled for Oct. 20.

Navarro's husband, a legal resident, works construction jobs. At Swift, she made more than twice as much as he does.

"We're just getting by, but I don't care about that," she said. "I ask God every day to let me stay with my family here."