Bus Trip to Postville Protest Yields Surprises

Twin Cities Daily Planet, News Report, Julia Opoti, Posted: Jul 29, 2008

Originally from Kenya, Julia Opoti lives in St. Paul and does free lance reporting.

MINNEAPOLIS – This past weekend, I took a bus ride to Postville, Iowa with members of the Jewish Community Action and other representatives of the Twin Cities Jewish community. We were on a trip from Minneapolis to Postville, Iowa to protest a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on AgriProcessors, a kosher meatpacking plant, and the draconian work conditions at the plant.

Two months ago, immigration officials arrested and charged 270 men and women with aggravated identity theft, improper use of Social Security numbers, and use of false identification cards. The raid has left the small town of 2200 deserted and desolate.

The ride from Minneapolis to Postville, Iowa was like a history refresher course led by Peter Rachleff, a history professor from Macalster College. Rachleff compared the bus rides to the Freedom Bus rides during the Civil Rights Movement, when black and white Americans rode across the states in solidarity to speak out against segregation and racism.

Folks in the bus then engaged in conversations telling “their story,â€