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Iowa town spotlights US immigration debate
2009-03-02
WASHINGTON (AFP) - They came to Postville, Iowa hoping for a better future. But a major immigration raid on the biggest local employer devastated the town and dashed the dreams of workers who traveled to the rural midwest state from as far away as Palau. "It was a military-style raid, which was in fact a rape of the city of Postville," Reverend Paul Ouderkirk of the Hispanic Ministry at St. Bridget's Catholic Church told AFP. On May 12, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the greatest single-site raid in its history, rounding up 389 mostly Guatemalan and Mexican undocumented workers -- more than a third of the workforce -- at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. The company, the largest kosher beef producer in the United States, was the biggest employer in the tiny town. It went bankrupt in November, reopening in December at much-reduced capacity. "Economy-wise, we are at a struggling point because the raid eliminated a lot of workers from the plant," Postville Mayor Bob Penrod told AFP. "Census-wise, our population is 2,200 but we had about 4,000 with the Hispanics ... Now, we're down to 1,500 people max. We've lost over half our population." The raid and the economic damage in its wake has added fuel to the heated immigration debate in the United States as the new administration of President Barack Obama battles an economic recession that has thrown millions out of work. "Postville is a landmark case about the urgent need for immigration reform," said Erik Camayd-Freixas, a Florida International University professor who was a court interpreter for some of the seized Agriprocessors workers. "The lack of timely action will only taint the Obama administration for condoning and perpetuating the inhumane immigration practices it inherited," he said in an interview, calling on Obama to put a moratorium on raids and arbitrary deportations. Former president George W. Bush tried -- twice and unsuccessfully -- to push through Congress a major overhaul of immigration laws that would have provided a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country. Critics called it amnesty. During last year's election campaign, Obama championed immigration reform that would provide a conditional path to citizenship for undocumented workers, as well as measures to secure the US border. The issue is particularly loaded during the economic crisis, with some lawmakers sensitive to any move that might strip more Americans of jobs. The federal crackdown on immigration has had a major impact on industries resorting to cheap labor, with nearly 5,200 undocumented immigrant workers detained in raids across the country in fiscal 2008, which ended in September. The raid in Postville "had a traumatic effect on the city because we basically lost our income," said Penrod. "Some property has been foreclosed on, about 200 homes are basically empty. The Agriprocessors bankruptcy was the nail on the head, that knocked everything out. We've lost probably four businesses in the last four months." ICE says it cannot be blamed for the devastating aftermath of the raid. "The disruption that resulted from the enforcement action at Agriprocessors should be laid at the feet of those who violated the law, not those who are charged with enforcing the law," ICE spokesman Tim Counts told AFP. Of those arrested, 305 were eventually convicted on charges that included identity theft and illegal re-entry. Most of the workers were sentenced to five months in prison. But the legality of the identity theft charges is now under review by the US Supreme Court. Deprived of cheap labor after the raid, Agriprocessors hired out-of-state workers, followed by Somali, Sudanese, Palauan and other immigrants and refugees. Many left after promises of a better pay, bonuses and a free month's rent never materialized, Camayd-Freixas said. "It's a humanitarian crisis from the beginning, right after the raid," he added. About 80 of the Hispanic workers were released with ankle monitors but now live off charity from the church. "They literally dumped these people on the street without providing any services for them, knowing that the church would do everything that it could," Ouderkirk said. At one point, some 400 immigrants slept under the pews of the church, which Ouderkirk said spends nearly 80,000 dollars a month to provide them shelter, food and other services, without help from the federal government. Others were deported or remain in prison.
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