Thread: {Sob} Postville Raid Sob Stories Only Sobs

May 12, 2008


Dubuque archbishop releases statement about ICE raid


The following statement was released this afternoon by Archbishop Jerome Hanus of Dubuque:

"The actions taken by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Postville on May 12 highlight once again the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Families have been disrupted; parents and children are filled with fear. Many are uncertain whether their loved ones will be arrested, imprisoned indefinitely or deported.

"This state of terror for families is evidence that our political system has not adequately addressed the demand for labor, the inadequacies of our present immigration policies and practices, and the broader economic challenges. Some of the weakest members among us are bearing the brunt of the suffering, while legislators and other leaders, as well as many of us in the general public, have failed to give this issue the priority that it deserves.

"Leaders in the Roman Catholic community as well as many other religious leaders have called for comprehensive immigration reform which strives:

" * to create legal avenues for workers and their families
who wish to enter our country and work in a safe, legal, and orderly manner with their rights fully protected;

" * to develop border protection policies that are consistent with
humanitarian values and with the need to treat all individuals with respect;

" * to allow authorities to carry out the critical task of identifying and preventing entry of terrorists and dangerous criminals, as well as pursuing
the legitimate task of implementing American immigration
policy;

" * to reduce significantly waiting times for separated families to be reunited.

" I urge all persons of good will to work at changing a system

" * that ignores the plight of individuals and families;

" * that resorts primarily on punitive measures rather than a long-term fix which would welcome hard-working people from impoverished nations to assist us in our labor needs as well as offer the richness of their faith and culture to our society;

" * that terrorizes families, separates parents and children, and places people in detention centers without good legal assistance and makes very difficult the possibility of communicating with their loved ones.

"Our religious and social response is based on the Judeo-Christian scriptures which call believers to welcome the stranger among us, to treat the alien with respect and charity, and to provide pastoral and humanitarian assistance. While we do not condone illegal activity, we do give spiritual and moral support to suffering families.

"All of us should urgently reiterate the call to our legislators to work for comprehensive reform.

"I express my gratitude to all who are helping in these painful circumstances and assure our prayers and support to those who are suffering."

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Article published: May 12, 2008
Culver, Braley talk about Postville raid

Des Moines Below is a statement from Governor Chet Culver on the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity today at Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville:

STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR CHET CULVER:

My office was informed last week there would be an impending federal exercise in the Waterloo area. I was briefed via telephone this morning at about 10:15 am by the U.S. Attorney for Northern District, as the exercise was happening.

The state’s role in today’s exercise has been limited. The Department of Public Safety is providing traffic support on the scene, and if additional criminal activity is discovered through the course of the exercise, the DCI is prepared to investigate at the state level.

I believe it is important that we crack down on illegal immigration. Illegal means illegal. Not just those who cross the border, but also those who are responsible for helping make it happen -- traffickers, identity thieves, those who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and anyone who has taken advantage of employees or turned a blind eye. At the same time we must take care to protect due process, and consider the impact on a small community and the people involved.

My Administration has made clear to the federal government the importance of ensuring the humanitarian side of this exercise is addressed in the community, and I have received assurances from the federal government that they are doing so.

I have also directed relevant state agencies to convene a working group under the Lt. Governor’s direction to ensure that state agencies are assisting the community in dealing with this event. This group will include representatives from Iowa Workforce Development, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Human Rights, the Department of Education, the Department of Public Health, and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Working group members have met this afternoon with the Lt. Governor to get briefed on this and begin working through their agencies to assist the community.

While this is a federal exercise, my office will continue to keep the public and press informed of any additional state involvement.Braley Statement on Postville ICE Raid
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) today released the following statement in response to reports of a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at Agriprocessors, Inc, in Postville, Iowa:

“My immediate thoughts are with the families impacted by today’s events. In Postville there are hundreds of children whose lives have been changed because of this raid, and in the wake of the December 2006 Swift Company raid, I want to make sure their well-being is a priority.

“If people have broken the law, there should be consequences. There’s a legal system in place to determine those consequences, and justice should be fairly imposed with due process.

“I’ll be interested to see if federal authorities will be bringing any charges against the employer. We know that the Swift Company never faced any charges after the raid in Marshalltown, and the enforcement of immigration violations against corporations has plummeted during the Bush administration. Until we enforce our immigration laws equally against both employers and employees who break the law, we will continue to have a problem with immigration.â€

Hey Bishop...where's your humanitarian concern for the victims of identity theft and other crimes committed by your precious illegal aliens? Where's the church's support for those whose financial lives have been ruined or put into question and/or greatly inconvenienced by the crimes committed by illegal aliens? Where's your concern, Bishop for all the American workers who were never offered these jobs and simply bypassed altogether in favor of hundreds of illegal aliens racing to the bottom of the labor pool in terms of wages/conditions?

Seems like you Bishop are pandering for more parishioners. We see that any legal immigrants and American citizens don't really count anymore...and neither will our dollars in your baskets when we stop giving to churches that are supporting illegal aliens.

So Archbishop Jerome Hanus of Dubuque feels child labor is acceptable both by the parents and the company in addition to the other crimes?
Does he approve some employees were running a methamphetamine lab in the plant?

see related thread: Hundreds of arrests predicted at Iowa ICE raid

Union had asked authorities not to raid plant

What concerns union officials is that they had alerted state and federal labor officials of allegations that Agriprocessors was exploiting underage workers and was paying them off the books, she said Monday.

[quote]Update: Detainees arrive in Waterloo

[color=red]“Source 1â€

Originally Posted by legalatina

Hey Bishop...where's your humanitarian concern for the victims of identity theft and other crimes committed by your precious illegal aliens? Where's the church's support for those whose financial lives have been ruined or put into question and/or greatly inconvenienced by the crimes committed by illegal aliens? Where's your concern, Bishop for all the American workers who were never offered these jobs and simply bypassed altogether in favor of hundreds of illegal aliens racing to the bottom of the labor pool in terms of wages/conditions?

Seems like you Bishop are pandering for more parishioners. We see that any legal immigrants and American citizens don't really count anymore...and neither will our dollars in your baskets when we stop giving to churches that are supporting illegal aliens.

All this idiot cares about is more fannies filling thier pughs (and more juicy little kids to molest!). They don't give a rat's hind end about America.
The Catholic church is losing ground fast with Americans who will no longer support thier sick, devious, greedy ways...

May 13, 2008


Immigration raid: Vignettes


'There is nothing I can do'

Anna Lopez and Cynthia Lopez, cousins from Waterloo, wrapped themselves in a Mexican flag with a depiction the Virgin of Guadalupe on it as they stood outside the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo on Monday. Anna Lopez, 23, a naturalized U.S. citizen, said many Hispanics in Waterloo were scared of appearing in public. "They're under the bed hiding," she said.
Cynthia Lopez, 17, a student at West High School in Waterloo, is also a citizen. She said Hispanic residents of Waterloo aren't going out because they are scared of being seized by authorities.

Kim Berger, 21, of Waterloo also waited outside the Cattle Congress grounds Monday afternoon. She had family friends that had been taken in Postville, and wanted to protest their arrest. But she added: "I am afraid there is nothing I can do."
'It's a bad deal'

Jim Trappe, a five-year Agriprocessors employee, was among about 20 people who huddled around a television to watch the 5 o'clock news at a downtown Postville bar on Monday. Some in the crowd yelled profanities at the TV as immigration officials explained the situation. Some of the bar's patrons argued among themselves about the legitimacy of the raid.

"It's a bad deal," said Trappe, 53, who purchases cattle for the plant. "There's families being split up."

Trappe was in Decorah when he heard the news about 10 a.m. He stopped working, knowing that immigration officials would probably prevent his bosses from calling him. Now he's biding his time until the bosses tell him to come back to work so he can start earning money again.

Trappe, who lives in nearby Luana, said Postville residents are about evenly split on their opinions of the Hispanic population in their city. He said the longtime residents still think of it as their town, whereas newer citizens better recognize the benefits of the plant and its employees.

"Mexican workers are good people. They want to work," he said. "There are people that sit in this bar every day who could be working, but they aren't."
'For the good in some way'

Ari Berkowitz, a 15-year-old Hasidic Jew, was hanging out with a handful of friends in downtown Postville, where many of the shops had closed early in the day.

"This is the most excitement we've had in a long time," he said about the government vehicles and helicopters that descended on the plant that morning. "It was just crazy."

Berkowitz acknowledged that it may be challenging to find replacements for the 300 Agriprocessors workers arrested Monday, but he thinks everything will turn out for the better.

"It's for the good in some way," he said. "I pray that everything goes best for those people" who were arrested.



'Should have built a fence'

Dan Swaim of Cedar Falls waved the U.S. flag Monday in contrast to the protestors waving the Mexican flag in front of the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds.

"It's time for all Mexicans to head back to where they came from," Swaim said. "They're driving wages down and driving taxes up for the school system. They should have built a fence 10 years ago to keep them out."


This includes reports from Jerry Perkins and Jennifer Jacobs in Waterloo and Jared Strong in Postville.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has established a toll-free number that family members can call to obtain information about the custody status and detention of those detained on Monday. It is (866) 341-3858.

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... /-1/NEWS04

Anna Lopez and Cynthia Lopez, cousins from Waterloo, wrapped themselves in a Mexican flag with a depiction the Virgin of Guadalupe

Wrapping themselves in a foreign flag is definitely NOT helping them. These two are American citizens and show their disrespect to the USA by doing this.

Immigration raid: Workers take care, take cover
By JENNIFER JACOBS and JERRY PERKINS • jjacobs@dmreg.com • May 13, 2008

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Waterloo, Ia. - Iowa workers without legal documentation went into hiding Monday and rushed to fill out paperwork for the care of their children and property in anticipation of being arrested, lawyers and immigration rights workers said.

Rumors were flying in Waterloo, Storm Lake, Marshalltown and elsewhere that other raids would occur or that they had already taken place.

All appeared to be unfounded.

The criminal and civil warrants were issued only in Postville on Monday, said Barbara Gonzalez, a federal immigration spokeswoman from Miami who is in Waterloo this week.


"The arrests are based on intelligence and investigative leads, so I think that dispels those rumors," she said.

But word flashed through the Waterloo immigrant community that businesses such as Tyson Foods or Kaiser Contract Cleaning were targeted. Officials of both companies said that that was not true, and that they knew of no pending raids.

Other false rumors kept people from going to local stores because they heard federal officials would be there, asking for identification.

"We don't conduct random arrests," Gonzalez said.

Volunteers at El Centro Latinoamericano, a Latino resource center in Waterloo, said they were using announcements on La Buena, a radio station at 1250 AM, to try to squelch the rumor that ICE was knocking on doors of homes.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people were filling out paperwork: power of attorney documents to provide for care of children and property, and federal G-28 documents that allow an attorney to represent them in immigration court, lawyers said.

"People are panicky. They're in hiding," said immigration attorney Miryam Antúnez de Mayolo of Cedar Falls.
Some families were too scared to leave their homes, and some pulled their children out of school, said Carole Gustafson, president of the board of El Centro Latinoamericano and an elementary schoolteacher.

Two Hispanic workers at Crystal Distribution Service in Waterloo took off for the day after they heard about the Postville raid, workers said.

"They gave other excuses, a sick relative or something, but we're going on the assumption that they're nervous about the raid," said Doug Hemesath, who works in human resources at Crystal.

Some Waterloo-area residents stopped by the National Cattle Congress complex in search of information. One woman, who declined to give her name, said she has children who are undocumented.

Rosalinda Ruiz of Waterloo said she came to the Cattle Congress grounds to see whether she could speak to Jesus and Marcos Rodriguez, who showed up for the morning shift at the Postville plant but haven't been heard from since.

A friend of a friend asked Ruiz to find out information for the Rodriguezes' families. Ruiz was not allowed inside.

About 500 people gathered at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Waterloo Monday night. At least three lawyers were there until very late, answering questions.

"People are just so scared, you know?" said Ruiz, who works for a collection agency in Waterloo seeking payment on overdue medical bills.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... 1/politics

Two Hispanic workers at Crystal Distribution Service in Waterloo took off for the day after they heard about the Postville raid, workers said.

"They gave other excuses, a sick relative or something, but we're going on the assumption that they're nervous about the raid," said Doug Hemesath, who works in human resources at Crystal.

The workers that leave upon hearing about a raid have just identified themselves as illegal aliens. If they return to work after that and the company keeps employing them, the company is WILLINGLY and KNOWINGLY aiding and abetting IA's.

http://socialistworker.org/2008/05/14/t ... leNational

Treated like cattle by ICENicole Colson reports on an ICE raid on an Iowa slaughterhouse, where hundreds of workers were arrested--and then hauled off to a makeshift detention center at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds.

May 14, 2008

THE LARGEST raid on a single workplace in U.S. history sent shock waves through Northeastern Iowa on May 12--especially in the immigrant community.

In a massive, coordinated effort, witnesses say more than 100 agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stormed into the AgriProcessors Inc. complex in the small town of Postville, at 10 a.m. As government helicopters flew overhead, workers were ordered to stand in two groups--those with identification to the right, and those with other papers to the left.

"There was plenty of hollering," Chuck Larson, a truck driver at the plant, told the Des Moines Register. "You couldn't go anywhere." When the paper asked Larson who was separated out, he said that those standing in the group of people with "other" papers were all Latino.

One detainee, who was facing deportation and wished to remain anonymous, told the Register that several weeks ago, she was told by officials at the plants to make her "papers" look more realistic.

As the raid began, she said, a call came over the loudspeaker, announcing that ICE was in the plant. Workers throughout the plant tried to hide or run away. "Everyone scampered, everyone tried to get away," she said. "Once they knew they couldn't get away, they came down from their hiding places."

Now, the woman said, she's worried she won't be able to send money to her children in Guatemala.

After those without ID were separated out, they were frisked and told to remove any sweaters or heavy garments. Then their wrists were handcuffed, chains were attached to their waists and their feet were cuffed, before they were put on buses for Waterloo, Iowa--to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds, which federal authorities had leased in advance of the raid in early May for what they told the media would be a "training exercise." Activists now say the grounds are being used as a makeshift processing and detention center.

Retired University of Northern Iowa professor Rosa Maria de Finlay was upset as she approached the gates of the Cattle Congress fairgrounds and was turned away by an agent. De Finlay told the Register that said she had gone to the location several times after she heard about the raid in order to offer her services as a translator.

"I think the money we're spending on all this is incredible," she said. "You and I will never know how much it costs. That money could be used for something else other than this crap."

By Tuesday, authorities said that 390 people had been arrested--and warrants had been issued for about 300 more, mainly on charges of identity theft and other crimes related to the use of fraudulent Green Cards, Social Security numbers and other government documents.

Of those detained so far, authorities say the vast majority are Latino--290 are Guatemalan and more than 90 are Mexican. Federal officials claim that as many as three-quarters of the plant's 1,000-strong workforce are using fraudulent Social Security numbers.

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POSTVILLE IS a small town of around 2,500 people. Approximately 1,000 people--mainly immigrants from surrounding communities--work at the AgriProcessors plant, which is the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the U.S. and one of the biggest employers in the state.

The plant was opened in 1987 by members of a local ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community. There is a reported history of tensions between the Jewish community and the town (including some open anti-Semitism which helped lead to a 1997 referendum allowing the town to annex the land that the slaughterhouse was on).

Today, labor activists and others say the plant has a long record of abuses that includes substandard pay, poor working conditions and other violations.

For its part, AgriProcessors claims to be a wonderful employer. In a letter on its Web site in November, the company denounced the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union--which has tried unsuccessfully to organize the plant--for supposedly "'waging economic war on an unorganized company'...

"As part and parcel of this campaign, the UFCW has disseminated inaccurate and false information, which is designed to destroy AgriProcessors, Inc.'s image and inflict economic damage."

According to the UFCW, however, it is AgriProcessors that inflicts damage--on its workers.

A June article posted on the UFCW Local 1776 Web site said AgriProcessors not only engaged in inhumane slaughtering practices (covered up, according to a USDA Inspector General's report, by "gifts" to federal Food Safety Inspection Service meat inspectors), but a wide range of abuses against its largely immigrant workforce.

According to UFCW, "The Forward, published in New York City, has documented the substandard working conditions at the AgriProcessors plant in Postville. Workers receive little or no required safety training and have suffered amputations and other serious injuries on the job. Health and safety provisions are lacking. In 2006, the company accounted for more than half of the slaughterhouse complaints submitted to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration from the entire state of Iowa.

"The workers at AgriProcessors are among the lowest-paid in the industry. They do not receive proper overtime pay or adequate health care benefits. They are threatened with dismissal if they complain or speak to outsiders. And they are extorted for cash or asked to buy cars from supervisors when they apply for a job.

"Supervisors at AgriProcessors spy on workers who meet with visitors to Postville. They trail people who investigate the company. And they give workers flyers warning them not to talk to outsiders or 'the union devils.' The workers' rights to organize are strongly discouraged and compromised."

Rabbi Morris Allen, who took part in a commission established by the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which traveled to Postville last year to investigate abuse allegations, told the New York Times, "As concerned as we are about how an animal gets killed, we need to be equally concerned about how a worker lives. We need to be certain that the food we are obligated to eat is produced in a way that demonstrates concern for those who produce it."

Father Paul Ouderkirk, of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville, told the Register that when he toured the AgriProcessors facility in 2002, "It was one of the dirtiest plants I've been in...The pace was fast. They had no place where people could sit down and eat, only a room about the size of (a 15-by-15-foot area) where they crowded in."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

RATHER THAN protect the rights of these vulnerable workers, however, federal authorities seem to have used the allegations of workplace abuse as an excuse to justify the raid.

In the warrant allowing the raid, officials described an incident in which a supervisor covered the eyes of an employee with duct tape and struck him with a meat hook. According to the Register, "The worker...declined to report the incident for fear of losing his job, the warrant said."

Another worker allegedly told federal officials that undocumented workers were paid just $5 an hour for their first few months of work, before receiving a raise to $6 an hour--well under Iowa's legal minimum wage of $7.25.

That these allegations could be used as a pretense to round up and potentially deport hundreds of workers, rather than crack down on workplace abuses--in an industry that is notorious for such practices--shows how far the federal government will sink in scapegoating immigrants.

As David Goodner, an activist with the University of Iowa Campus Antiwar Network, pointed out on his blog at the Des Moines Register, "Guatemala is one of the most impoverished countries in the Western Hemisphere and has been a survivor of economic and military rape by the United States for decades. Free trade agreements like NAFTA overwhelmingly benefit multinational corporations at the expense of ordinary, everyday workers across the world.

"If capital knows no nationality and can move across borders in search of profit, then the workers of the world also have every right to move across borders in search of livable wages and dignified work."

For now, the raid in Postville has created a wave of fear in the immigrant community in the area.

Anna Lopez, a naturalized U.S. citizen, said many Latinos in Waterloo were scared of appearing in public for fear of being seized by ICE. "They're under the bed hiding," she told the Register.

"I am afraid there's nothing I can do," said Kim Berger, who waited outside the Cattle Congress grounds after the raid for information about family members and friends.

But in an inspiring demonstration of support, as many as 200 protesters--including many high school students--turned out late Monday at the gates of the fairgrounds to demand the release of the detainees. They chanted, "ICE go home," "We are with you" and "We have rights," while waving signs that said, "Honk for Human Rights."

"We work hard, we stay out of trouble, and they want to take us away?" Cesar Bravo, a high school student, told the Waterloo Courier. "When they hit Tama (County) in a raid, they took my uncle. They ruin our families."

As student Veronica Retuer-Villagrana added, "We come here to work, not be criminals."

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