Look Again - Crimes Stats of Immigrants ARE Lower

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Postville police deal with new replacement workers

Associated Press/Chicago Tribune
1:52 PM CDT, September 7, 2008

POSTVILLE, Iowa - Postville's police chief says he's trying to add another officer to his staff as crime has risen in the city after an Immigration raid in May.

The Agriprocessors meatpacking plant was raided May 12, when 389 people were charged with being in the country illegally. Most were also charged criminally.

Postville Police Chief Michael Halse says the workers who have come to replace those picked up in the raid are temporary. He says he doesn't know their backgrounds or where they came from.

Halse says he hopes life will return to the way it was before the raid, but predicted that normalcy could be years away.

The Big White Buses

Photo by Spencer Hsu for the Washington Post



Last year I spent many hours talking to DREAMERS - they often mentioned the ominous big white buses from Homeland Security. This image contains buses used to transport detainees from the Postville raid.

400 protest Postville Raid

From Democracynow.org

Hundreds Protest Iowa Immigration Raid

In Waterloo, Iowa, hundreds of people marched on Sunday to protest last week’s immigration raid at the Agriprocessers kosher meatpacking plant. Immigration agents detained nearly 400 immigrant workers in what has been described as the largest single immigration raid in US history. The raid resulted in more than ten percent of the town of Postville, Iowa being locked up. On the day after the raid, half of the school system’s 600 students were absent, including 90 percent of Latino children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding. Many of the workers have been held at a fairgrounds usually used for exhibiting cattle. No charges have been filed against the owners of the meatpacking plant, Agriprocessors.

The Postville ICE Raid - Why weren't the Postville employers arrested?

The largest immigration raid in U.S. History did not include the arrests of any employers - Is ICE thinking that the only ones guilty are the immigrants? ICE is well aware that the companies generally know the immigration status of their employees - If an employer willingly hires someone with a false social security number, isn't that punishable by law? Why is the rule so stringently enforced for undocumented immigrants but not for their employers who are colluding with this so-called illegal job system?



Those wanting to send donations for Postville families, can send checks to

St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry
St. Bridget's Church
P.O. Box 369
Postville, IA 52162


for information on donations call St. Bridget's Church at (563) 864-3138.

Video of Sister Mary McCauley at St. Bridget's discussing the Postville ICE raid



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Postville relief workers report families' greatest need is cash
Decorah, Iowa
May 20, 2008

from the Decorah Newspaper


Many Postville families torn apart by last Monday's federal government raid on a Agriprocessors meat packing plant are in dire need of money for rent, utilities, food, and medical bills.

That is the latest report from leaders of volunteer support groups who have rallied to the aid of families now sheltered at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville. As of Friday afternoon, about 300 people, mostly women and children, many of whom are U.S. citizens, remained at the church.

Approximately 390 allegedly undocumented workers at Agriprocessors were arrested during the May 12 raid by agents of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency -- the largest single-site operation in the country.

Workers were transported to a makeshift detention center at the Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, and many family members are still without word of the arrested workers. Nearly 40 women have been released with GPS monitoring devices, attached to their ankles. And several minors have also been released with monitoring devices.

"Families are anxious to find their loved ones, and when fear does not keep them away from their own homes, they are accepting collect calls that cost $4.25 for the first minute and $1 for each consecutive minute. Children whose parents were detained are traumatized and dealing with issues of anxiety, grief and separation," explained Sister Mary McCauley of St. Bridget's.

Leaders of the relief effort reported the workers' paychecks have stopped, and their families' greatest need now is cash to pay basic household expenses and medical costs.

Donations may be sent to: St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry, St. Bridget's Church, P.O. Box 369, Postville, IA 52162. Checks should be made out to St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry.

Donations of non-perishable food items to the local food pantry are also greatly needed. For information about the types of foods most needed and how to make a donation, call St. Bridget's Church at (563) 864-3138.

"The church and area volunteers plan to continue arranging medical services and legal advice for the families while also trying to provide security and support. The goal is to help family members feel secure enough to begin to think about what lies ahead," McCauley said.