Luis Gutierrez demagogues Agriprocessors raid, accuses DOJ of lying (Joe Baca, Albio Sires, Jens Manuel Krogstad)
Jens Manuel Krogstad of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier offers the inaccurate "Hispanic congressmen gather information in Postville" (link), informing us that Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Joe Baca, and Albio Sires visited that city for a meeting at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church to discuss the Agriprocessors raid.

We're told that Baca "wiped tears from his eyes" as he heard tales from relatives of those involved in the raid.

Then, we get to the inaccurate part:
In an unprecedented move by the Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more than 300 of the 390 people arrested in the raid were convicted of aggravated criminal identity theft under a plea deal.

During congressional testimony on Thursday, the plea deal was criticized as so coercive that it violated the due process rights of the immigrant workers.

An aggravated identity theft charge usually requires a person to knowingly steal someone else's identity, or intent to use a person's identity for personal gain, such as to run up credit.

Gutierrez argued the immigrants, many of them illiterate, could not have been guilty of the crime.
Actually, many were just charged with "aggravated criminal identity theft", but they were given the choice of going to court on it or pleading to lesser offenses, and all or almost all took the latter route. The pleas involved "false identification to obtain employment", "false use of social security number", etc. and are listed on these pages:

usdoj.gov/usao/ian/press/June_08/6_10_08_Postville.html
usdoj.gov/usao/ian/press/May_08/5_20_08_Agriprocessors.html
usdoj.gov/usao/ian/press/May_08/5_22_08_Agriprocessors.html

Needless to say, the actual facts mean little to a vile supporter of illegal activity like Gutierrez:
"Illegal immigration is not an aggravted felony," Gutierrez said. "What they did here in Postville is unprecedented."

The Illinois Congressmen took particular exception to the Justice Department not allowing the arrested workers immediate access to immigration attorneys. After the raid, criminal lawyers were allowed to visit with their clients, but a handful of immigration attorneys were turned away.

"The Department of Justice came to us to tell us personally this process was done in compliance with the law," Gutierrez said. "I don't believe them. They're lying to us, they’re lying to you, and we need to find the truth."
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007859.html