Guatemalans will join relatives in Postville

Associated Press

7:19 a.m. CST, November 26, 2010

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Immigration lawyer says 28 Guatemalans are expected to arrive next week in Postville to join relatives who have stayed in the community after helping in the prosecution of officials at a meatpacking plant.

Sonia Parras Konrad tells The Des Moines Register that most of those coming Dec. 4 are children whose mothers previously worked at the northeast Iowa plant, then known as Agriprocessors. After cooperating with investigators following a huge Immigration raid at the plant in 2008, the former workers were allowed to remain in the United States through temporary visas.

Churches in the area helped raise money for airfare from Guatemala to Chicago. They also arranged for a bus from Chicago to Postville.

Parras Konrad, who represents many of the immigrants, says most hope to remain in the U.S.

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