Thread: The Postville 28 — Women Immigrants Fight To Stay In U.S.

October 3, 2008

The Postville 28 — Women Immigrants Fight To Stay In U.S.

By Marcelo Ballvé
New America Media

POSTVILLE, Iowa— The women could have just packed up a few belongings, gently broken the news to their children they could no longer remain in this country, and gone back to Mexico and Guatemala.

Cruz RodrÃ*guez, 31, thought she would do just that in the days after May 12, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stormed a kosher meatpacking plant in this small town, arresting her and nearly 400 other undocumented workers.


RodrÃ*guez was among some 40 detainees, almost all women, ICE released with ankle bracelet monitoring devices the day of the raid, so they could care for their children as they waited to see an immigration judge. As the weeks and months wore on, many opted for deportation once courts gave them the chance, returning to rural villages in Guatemala and Mexico some thought they’d left behind for good.


Twenty-eight of the women, however, including RodrÃ*guez, remain in Postville, fighting deportation by applying for political asylum or special visas, according to the Hispanic Ministry at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church, nerve-center of immigrants’ organizing efforts.


“At first I felt very depressed, I didn’t see the purpose in anything,â€

Load up the bus

ICE - Deport Them All!

[quote]“I didn’t know anything about rights, or laws, or anything like that,â€

Veronica Cumez, a 32-year-old Guatemalan wearing an ankle bracelet, hopes to obtain a U visa as the longtime guardian of her nephew, 17-year-old Gerardo SorovÃ*, who was an underage worker at Agripro-cessors (underage workers, over 20 of them, also were released the day of the raid). However, she was forced to make a decision that would be heart-rending for any mother. Her 14-year-old daughter Silvia Cumez decided she couldn’t bear to remain amidst the debris of their former lives in Postville any longer, and wanted to return to Guatemala, where her two younger siblings live. Cumez initially resisted, but had to relent when Silvia insisted.

Yeah I see how "heart-breaking" her decision is to let her 14 year old go back to Guatemala to join her younger siblings, while she has to be a 17 year old's guardian. This woman must be deported asap! What a scum, abandoning her own kids! If she was the "longtime" guardian of this 17 year old, then she knew he was underage and didn't do anything about it? I don't buy her sham story - get her outta here!

As for the jewelry making? They can do that in their home countries as well, they don't need to be here for that.

Originally Posted by jimpasz

Load up the bus

That's right, put them on the Legalization Bus!!