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  1. #1
    Senior Member zeezil's Avatar
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    Dozens in Postville face indefinite wait

    Dozens in Postville face indefinite wait
    By NIGEL DUARA • nduara@dmreg.com • July 16, 2008

    Postville, Ia. — Forty-five illegal immigrants are caught between a federal agency that wants them out of the United States and a legal system that might need them as witnesses.

    The 45 are among the 389 Agriprocessors Inc. workers detained on May 12 after the largest single-site workplace raid in U.S. history. The 42 women and three men were released because they had children to care for, and they now wear tracking bracelets on their ankles.

    They can't look for jobs, and they have no means to buy food or pay their rent or utility bills. They can't leave Iowa. Most haven't been told when they'll go to court to face charges, either of being in the country illegally or using false work papers, or both.

    "(Either) they send us back or they let us go," said Irma Hernándes, one of the illegal immigrants wearing the tracking bracelets. "But now we're just waiting."

    Currently, St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry is supporting the 45 people and their children with about $300,000 in donations that flooded the Catholic church after the raid. The money, though, is quickly running out.

    "The need is infinite," Sister Mary McCauley said. "Our resources are finite."

    The 304 workers who pleaded guilty of using false identifications or entering the company illegally know their fate: They are serving five-month sentences before being deported.


    Attempts to leave U.S. halted after initial OK

    The women and men with the tracking bracelets don't know what the immediate future holds for them.

    They have not been told whether they will eventually face charges. Many have spouses who are serving five-month sentences; others have spouses who have already been deported.

    Their best course of action, said Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, would be "stipulated removal," in which the former Agriprocessors workers would be immediately returned to their home countries.

    The consequences for the men and women — barred for 10 years from the United States — would be the same as what they would encounter in an immigration court.

    Sonia Parras Konrad of the Benzoni Law Offices in Des Moines said she proposed that route for 15 of the women. She said ICE agents initially gave her approval, then called back after speaking to the U.S. attorney's office.

    "They got back to me and said, 'Whoa, not so fast,' " Parras Konrad said. "They said the criminal investigation is ongoing."

    Agriprocessors is the subject of the investigation, Parras Konrad said, an investigation connected to the convening of a grand jury.

    Bob Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Cedar Rapids, would not confirm or deny that any of the people wearing tracking bracelets are being sought as a material witness.

    Earlier this month, two supervisors at the kosher meatpacking plant were arrested on allegations that they helped illegal immigrant workers hide behind bogus Social Security and resident alien cards.

    Teig declined to comment on whether more people will be arrested in connection with the raid.

    Lilia Ordoñes and Hernándes, two women wearing the tracking devices, said they haven't heard when they'll go to court.

    University of Michigan law professor and Des Moines native Joan Larsen said that the 45 immigrants will be turned over to the U.S. Justice Department when they are either charged criminally or held as material witnesses, or both.

    Usually, material witnesses held in detention are given a $40-a-day stipend, Larsen said, but the statute that provides for the money says that aliens who are determined to be deportable don't qualify.

    Larsen said, however, that the men and women have a chance to leave the country sooner if their attorneys can persuade the court to take depositions from the 45 people rather than waiting for potential trials.

    Parras Konrad said she would rather have the immigrants testify in person and be available for cross-examination than have their depositions used in court.


    Church can't support arrestees forever

    At the same time, the 45 are reliant on the financial contributions of a local church. But that well of money is in danger of drying up.

    St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry received hundreds of donations in the weeks after the raid. They totaled about $300,000, according to church officials. About $150,000 has been spent so far.

    Now, those same donations have slowed to a trickle, but the costs for the 45 illegal immigrants still amount to $10,000 to $15,000 a week.

    Between rent, utilities, food bills and help with legal documents, the men and women must rely on the church for help.

    Based on the estimates provided by the church, without another major wave of donations, money for those in tracking devices will run out in late September or early October.

    McCauley, who oversees the donations and the church's finances, declined to give an exact figure of how much has been spent or how much is left.

    The donations, she said, came from across the country, in increments ranging from $1 to $3,000.

    In the beginning, McCauley said, the church was getting 25 to 30 donations a day. Now it gets three to five donations a day.

    From Palo Alto, Calif., $100 and a letter: "I saw a note in our parish bulletin. ... Keep up the good work."

    Another one, $20: "Here's a few bucks to help."

    With a check for $1,000: "Thank you for the important work you're doing."

    McCauley writes a thank-you note to each contributor.

    She said she's gotten a number of letters and donations from Jewish organizations who claim embarrassment that a kosher meatpacking plant has been accused of frequent worker abuse.

    Not every message or call has been encouraging. McCauley said she's gotten some nasty voice mails.

    "There's so much hatred out there," she said. "But there's so much love out there."
    http://tinyurl.com/6d8uh8
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  2. #2
    Senior Member zeezil's Avatar
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    No sympathy here. Breaking into our country, stealing or fraudulent ID use, illegally operating a motor vehicle with no license or insurance, theft of services meant for citizens, illegally working in violation of work and immigration law...on and on. Either these people are dumber than a box of rocks when they feign shock and dismay when the hammer comes down or they are brazen criminals of no characther or morals...or both.
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    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    Re: Dozens in Postville face indefinite wait

    Well, didn't this just set the tone for my day:

    Now, those same donations have slowed to a trickle, but the costs for the 45 illegal immigrants still amount to $10,000 to $15,000 a week.

    What does that average.... just off the top of my head, about $2,200-3,000 per week? And just how many Americans have that kind of income to meet their expenses? Better yet, how many have that kind of money HANDED to them to meet their expenses every week?

    My family scrounges along on less than $250.00/week and why? Because of an illegal alien who stole my husband's identity and made it impossible for him to collect his rightful disability earnings after a near fatal illness left him unable to work and we were plummeted out of middle class straight into the hopper.

    But, by all means Sister......foot the bill for illegal alien identity thieves. After all, they've hurt no one and only want a better life, right?
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Ex_OC's Avatar
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    Well, these 45 people get what they deserve. They made CONSCIOUS CHOICES to steal other people's IDs. Do they think they can just waltz out of here? Welcome to the wonderful world of the American court system.

    I hope this experience will scare them out of their wits so when they are finally deported, they'll never come back and spread the word to their compadres south of the border that it ain't worth it.
    PRESS 1 FOR ENGLISH. PRESS 2 FOR DEPORTATION.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Gogo's Avatar
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    Re: Dozens in Postville face indefinite wait

    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Well, didn't this just set the tone for my day:

    Now, those same donations have slowed to a trickle, but the costs for the 45 illegal immigrants still amount to $10,000 to $15,000 a week.

    What does that average.... just off the top of my head, about $2,200-3,000 per week? And just how many Americans have that kind of income to meet their expenses? Better yet, how many have that kind of money HANDED to them to meet their expenses every week?

    My family scrounges along on less than $250.00/week and why? Because of an illegal alien who stole my husband's identity and made it impossible for him to collect his rightful disability earnings after a near fatal illness left him unable to work and we were plummeted out of middle class straight into the hopper.

    But, by all means Sister......foot the bill for illegal alien identity thieves. After all, they've hurt no one and only want a better life, right?

    AZwreath, you're one of the victims that William needs to interview on his radio show.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  6. #6
    Senior Member miguelina's Avatar
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    Re: Dozens in Postville face indefinite wait

    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Well, didn't this just set the tone for my day:

    Now, those same donations have slowed to a trickle, but the costs for the 45 illegal immigrants still amount to $10,000 to $15,000 a week.

    What does that average.... just off the top of my head, about $2,200-3,000 per week? And just how many Americans have that kind of income to meet their expenses? Better yet, how many have that kind of money HANDED to them to meet their expenses every week?

    My family scrounges along on less than $250.00/week and why? Because of an illegal alien who stole my husband's identity and made it impossible for him to collect his rightful disability earnings after a near fatal illness left him unable to work and we were plummeted out of middle class straight into the hopper.

    But, by all means Sister......foot the bill for illegal alien identity thieves. After all, they've hurt no one and only want a better life, right?
    Right on azwreath! The Catholic Charities can continue to support them! They won't be getting a dime from me! Maybe their families in their home countries can send them money .

    Why can't ICE take videos of their information and deport them all? I don't understand why they need to keep them around.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
    "

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    BigLake13's Avatar
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    Now, those same donations have slowed to a trickle, but the costs for the 45 illegal immigrants still amount to $10,000 to $15,000 a week.

    Between rent, utilities, food bills and help with legal documents, the men and women must rely on the church for help.
    Welcome to U.S. laws. U.S. Citizens who break the law and can bail out of jail do not get any support. Why should you be any different.

    Of all that were deported how many are back?

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