Thread: Update: Hundreds of arrests predicted at Iowa ICE raid

Postville, Ia. – Federal agents descended upon this northeast Iowa community at about 10 a.m. today to conduct an immigration raid at a meat-packing plant.

Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman.


Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.

Representatives of Iowa’s congressional offices said they have been told by federal officials that hundreds of arrests are expected.

A helicopter hovered over the scene, and a number of agents formed a perimeter around the Agriprocessors facility. Vehicles from ICE and at least eight cars and vans from the Iowa State Patrol were at the plant. There were also reports of two moving vans at the scene, along with an ambulance and two black Chevrolet Suburbans.

Counts declined to confirm where people who are arrested will be detained. Federal officials have leased the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, but they declined to explain last week whether the property was being prepared for use as a detention center.

Counts said that each person being arrested would be questioned by ICE and by Public Health Service medical professionals to determine if they have humanitarian issues, including child care giver or medical issues.

“Those interviews will aid ICE in determining whether people will be detained or conditionally released on humanitarian grounds, pending their immigration court appearance,â€

Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said

So can the Supreme court issue a national civil search warrant giving the push needed to local and state law enforcement to do neighborhood and workplace sweeps daily?

thousands of Hasidic Jews arrived in Postville to open up and operate "meat-packing" plants in Postville. Guess who they hired? I read this book a while back and didn't realize the connection between the "labor" and "immigration" until a few years ago.

Bloom describes the Hasidic arrival in Postville. In 1987, Rabbi Aaron Rubashkin purchased an unused meat-rendering plant and turned it into a state-of-the-art facility for producing Glatt kosher meat. A group of a few hundred Hasidim joined him to help manage and operate the facility, which grew to employ 900. The town's population of around 1,300 Lutherans had a mixed relationship with the Hasidim.

Throughout the book, Bloom describes the power struggles between the two groups, culminating in a ballot referendum held by the town calling for annexation of the land where the plant was located, which permitted the town to gain the ability to tax and regulate the plant. According to the jacket, the book tries to the answer whether "the Iowans [were] prejudiced, or were the Lubavitchers simply unbearable?"

Bloom chooses sides in the culture clash. In the book, Bloom voices his opinions on the vote (he supports annexation) and his condemnation of the Hasidic community (whose behavior towards the local native Iowans he frequently describes as "despicable", and whose beliefs he characterizes as "racist" and "perverted"). At one point in the book, Bloom compares Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the international rebbe (religious leader) of the sect who died in 1994, to Louis Farrakhan, asserting that their messages of separatism are nearly identical.

In the Afterward of the updated edition of the book, Bloom describes the receiving in the aftermath of the book's publication frequent accusations of airing the Jews' "dirty laundry," and betraying his brethren.

The book was published by Harcourt in 2000 and was named a Best Book of the year by MSNBC, The Chicago Sun-Times, the Rocky Mountain News, The Chicago Tribune, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Some reader responses posted following the article....

Thrasymachus wrote:

Prices for nearly everything would increase because wage rates would increase. But yes, most people are ignorant about immigration and only care about "good old me".

There is no such thing as losing your job to an immigrant. Besides, even if you do you get umemployment and are able to be retrained for another job. Unless the unemployment rate was on the rise, I'm sure that no one is losing their job. In fact, less expensive labor is what has kept small town factories alive!
5/12/2008 11:33:24 AM Prices for nearly everything would increase because wage rates would increase. But yes, most people are ignorant about immigration and only care about "good old me".

There is no such thing as losing your job to an immigrant. Besides, even if you do you get umemployment and are able to be retrained for another job. Unless the unemployment rate was on the rise, I'm sure that no one is losing their job. In fact, less expensive labor is what has kept small town factories alive! Thrasymachus
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VoiceOfReason wrote:

"Food prices would skyrocket without immigrant labor." - Immigrants are fine. Illegal aliens are not. Sign the book on the way in and pay your taxes.

Maybe you should be bashing congress instead of calling Iowans ignorant, fool.


5/12/2008 11:33:13 AM "Food prices would skyrocket without immigrant labor." - Immigrants are fine. Illegal aliens are not. Sign the book on the way in and pay your taxes.

Maybe you should be bashing congress instead of calling Iowans ignorant, fool.

VoiceOfReason
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buzzcut75 wrote:

Oy, oy, oy vey!!!!!!!
One company that is alleged to rely heavily on illegal alien workers is Agriprocessors(emphasis added) , better known by its major brand name and the name of the family that controls it � Rubashkin. The Forward documented worker abuse at Rubashkin, including alleged threats to turn in recalcitrant workers to the Immigration police. But it seems Postville is not the only Rubashkin operation with labor difficulties. I have previously documented Rubashkin worker abuse that included collecting union dues but not turning those dues over to the union, an illegal practice that resulted in censure and penalties from the National Labor Relations Board.

Failed Messiah.com, June 2006




5/12/2008 11:32:21 AM Oy, oy, oy vey!!!!!!!<blockquote>

One company that is alleged <u>to rely heavily on illegal alien workers is Agriprocessors</u>(emphasis added) , better known by its major brand name and the name of the family that controls it � Rubashkin. The Forward documented worker abuse at Rubashkin, including alleged threats to turn in recalcitrant workers to the Immigration police. But it seems Postville is not the only Rubashkin operation with labor difficulties. I have previously documented Rubashkin worker abuse that included collecting union dues but not turning those dues over to the union, an illegal practice that resulted in censure and penalties from the National Labor Relations Board.</p>

Failed Messiah.com, June 2006</p></blockquote>

buzzcut75
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NWIAGuy wrote:

Also, this a kosher packing plant run by hasidic jews. Oy vey! There will be much gnashing at the shul tonight.
5/12/2008 11:29:50 AM Also, this a kosher packing plant run by hasidic jews. Oy vey! There will be much gnashing at the shul tonight. NWIAGuy
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NWIAGuy wrote:

Yeah, that's right, send them all home in one big bus... and watch the Iowa economy grind to a CRASHING halt. I support the government for enforcing immigration law, but it has to be good immigration law, not the junk legislation in place now. We MUST have employer sponsored work visas. Most of you are ignorant about how much Iowa depends on immigrant labor. Think gas is bad? Food prices would skyrocket without immigrant labor.

5/12/2008 11:26:10 AM Yeah, that's right, send them all home in one big bus... and watch the Iowa economy grind to a CRASHING halt. I support the government for enforcing immigration law, but it has to be good immigration law, not the junk legislation in place now. We MUST have employer sponsored work visas. Most of you are ignorant about how much Iowa depends on immigrant labor. Think gas is bad? Food prices would skyrocket without immigrant labor. NWIAGuy
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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... S/80512012

....seems like not only does "Agriprocessors" hire illegal aliens, violating all kinds of federal immigration and other workplace laws....but Jewish groups have critized and exposed the less than "kosher" treatment of the animals at the slaughterhouse in violation of Jewish norms and PETA has also done exposes on Agriprocessors in Postville. Again we have an ethno-centric group that came to enrich themselves by the exploitation of illegal immigrants, to the detriment of the safety, health and welfare of the entire community of Postville, IA.

USDA Report Finds That AgriProcessors Violated Humane, Kosher Laws

PETA is calling on government inspectors to be fired after a federal probe revealed that they accepted gifts and kept quiet about illegal mutilations of live animals. After reviewing video footage taken by an undercover PETA investigator, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has concluded that Postville, Iowa-based AgriProcessors—the largest glatt kosher slaughterhouse in the world—repeatedly violated provisions of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) while federal inspectors looked on and did nothing.

Workers were caught on videotape shocking cows in the face with electric prods, ripping out their windpipes while they were still conscious, and dumping the animals onto the floor as they struggled in terror while blood gushed from their throats. The report belies AgriProcessors’ earlier claims that the cruel methods it used to kill cows complied with federal and kosher regulations.

The USDA report also states that some inspectors accepted gifts of meat from AgriProcessors, failed to report violations, and committed “other acts of misconduct.â€

On Postville and walkouts
by Sarah Rose · May 21st, 2007
Tags Eco-Kashrut, Kosher, NYTimes, News, Sustainability

Concerns over working conditions at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meat processing plant, are heating up after a walk-out organized by the United Food and Commerical Workers, The Forward reports.

The NYTimes piled on with a profile of Conservative rabbi, Morris Allen, leading the charge for a social justice oriented tzedek hecsher.

Allen joined a team of rabbis who investigated the Postville plant last summer: “We weren’t able to verify everything [the Forward reported on working conditions]â€

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Immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville




Associated Press - May 12, 2008 12:24 PM ET

POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Immigration officials are raiding the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in the northeast Iowa town of Postville.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday issued criminal search warrants for aggravated identify theft and fraudulent Social Security numbers.

Agency spokesman Tim Counts told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier that civil search warrants also were issued for illegal immigrants, and agents and medical professionals are evaluating those who have been arrested.

Several vehicles from the immigration agency and at least eight Iowa State Patrol cars and vans are at the plant. A helicopter is also hovering.

Agriprocessors is the world's largest kosher meatpacking plant.

A telephone call by The Associated Press to the plant went unanswered. A call to immigration officials wasn't immediately returned, while the phone was repeatedly busy at the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


http://www.action3news.com/Global/story ... =menu550_2

I was born and raised in Iowa and when I go home to visit it is with a heavy heart when I see what a third world country many areas are becoming for CHEAP labor.

Update: Up to 700 arrests estimated in Postville raid

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/p ... 12012/1001

Load the busses! WTG ICE