Many arrested in Postville raid still jailed
Associated Press
3:20 PM CDT, July 5, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa - Both critics and supporters of the Immigration raid in Postville are surprised that 304 immigrants are serving jail time instead of being deported immediately.

Federal Immigration officials raided Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, on May 12. Most of those arrested were sentenced to spend five months in jail before being sent home. Some interviewed in jail said they hope to be sent home sooner than that.

Lawyers on both sides said that's unlikely to happen.

Jesus Reyes spoke last month at the Linn County Jail, where he was held until flooding forced the transfer of prisoners from the Cedar Rapids facility. Reyes, a native of Guatemala, pleaded guilty to using a false Social Security number to get work at the Agriprocessors packing plant.



He is concerned about his eight children, wife and mother back in Guatemala. They counted on the $200 per month he wired home during his three years in Iowa.

"Why don't they send me back? I just want to go back," Reyes said in Spanish.

Federal prosecutors won't say why they decided to push for jail time in most of the Postville cases. But those on both sides of the Immigration issue say the decision marks a significant change.

"It's unheard of for that many people to be prosecuted out of one raid," said Natalie Wettstein, legal director for the American Immigration Law Foundation, which works with immigrant-defense lawyers.

Wettstein questioned why the federal government is spending millions of tax dollars to imprison nonviolent immigrants. Jail administrators say the cost is about $65 per day per inmate, which adds up to $19,700 a day and $590,000 a month.

"Is this really commensurate with what these people were doing wrong?" Wettstein said. "Does the public really want to spend this kind of resources on this?"

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, say the answer is yes.

"From our perspective, it's a positive shift, because it shows there will be consequences," Mehlman said.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform wants tougher enforcement of Immigration laws. Mehlman said he hopes word of the jail sentences spreads in Guatemala and other countries that are sources of illegal Immigration.

Mehlman said that if no one faced penalties for identity theft, no one would worry about breaking the laws?

"It would be like the IRS saying, 'We'd like you to pay your taxes, but if you don't, don't worry about it," Mehlman said.

Robert Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, acknowledged that the Postville raid has the highest percentage of people prosecuted for crimes and sentenced to jail instead of just being deported. Teig added that previous raids have led to significant numbers of such prosecutions.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 3860.story