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How an immigration raid changed a town
Christian Science Monitor ^ | May 31, 2009 | Steve Dinnen

Posted on 06/05/2009 8:31:00 PM PDT by Lorianne

By 2008 Agriprocessors, which was being run in Iowa by Mr. Rubashkin's son Sholom, was processing 60,000 chickens and buying 500 cattle a day from area livestock producers. It was the largest kosher meatpacker in the country, employing about 1,000 people.

Agriprocessors hired Jewish rabbis to kill each animal to kosher standards. Further processing was conducted by local hires, and when that pool was tapped out, the company turned to immigrants from Ukraine, Russia, Somalia, Mexico, Israel, and most notably Guatemala.

An area first settled by German and other European immigrants (Czech composer Anton Dvorak and his family spent summers in nearby Spillville) suddenly found itself teeming with people from new lands. Adjustments needed to be made, such as including more Spanish in schools and getting acquainted with Jewish customs. Lawler Street, with all its ethnic storefronts, looked like a mini United Nations in a cornfield.

Then Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, some 500 strong, descended on Postville on May 12, 2008, to arrest Agriprocessors workers they suspected of not having proper documents. As helicopters thumped overhead, they rounded up 389 people. It was the largest immigration raid in US history.

The plant foundered under the weight of the raid, and, by November, Agriprocessors declared bankruptcy. It then closed, though a small portion of it has since reopened and is being run by a US Bankruptcy Court trustee.

Most of the illegal workers either accepted immediate deportation or pleaded guilty to immigration or document fraud charges, and, once they had served time, were sent home. Several dozen immigrants, mostly women, were released to care for children. They remain in Postville, but must wear electronic ankle bracelets so the government can monitor them.

(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; US: Iowa
KEYWORDS: aliens; amensty; enforcement; illegalinvasion; immigrantlist; invaders; jobs
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1 posted on 06/05/2009 8:31:00 PM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

Can someone tell me the part where I am supposed to start crying crocodile tears?


2 posted on 06/05/2009 8:35:04 PM PDT by exit82 (The Obama Cabinet: There was more brainpower on Gilligan's Island.)
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To: Lorianne

Deport all the illegals and jail the owners.


3 posted on 06/05/2009 8:35:12 PM PDT by Frantzie
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To: Frantzie

Maybe we can trim down the we’fare checks a bit an’ get some of the local lounge bums their first job.


4 posted on 06/05/2009 8:38:13 PM PDT by QBFimi (When gunpowder speaks, beasts listen.)
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To: exit82

Feel sorry for the kids for having criminals for parents. What did they do to deserve that?


5 posted on 06/05/2009 8:40:28 PM PDT by misterrob (A society that burdens future generations with debt can not be considered moral or just)
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To: Lorianne

This should be happening in every city on a daily basis!!!


6 posted on 06/05/2009 8:40:49 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: Lorianne

Let me start by saying that while I’m Jewish, I don’t keep kosher. However, I do know people who do, and the closing of this plant has impacted the supply of kosher meats, sending the prices up. I wish that the leftists would use this as a lesson in the way the “free market” works. When supply goes down, but demand stays constant, prices trend upwards.

But let’s look at what happened here. From what I’ve read about this place, they were doing massive identity theft, and they also found meth labs at the plant.

This is a case where the management at the plant got massively greedy, and decided that they were going to break a whole bunch of laws, taking an extremely profitable business and turning it into a BIG money generating criminal enterprise.

No tears being shed by me... “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time...”

Mark


7 posted on 06/05/2009 8:44:50 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: Lorianne
Operators of the plant are faring less well. Sholom Rubashkin is awaiting federal trial on charges of bank fraud and violating immigration and packing-plant laws and regulations. Several of his managers face immigration or document-alteration charges. The state has also filed misdemeanor charges against Mr. Rubashkin, including for multiple alleged infractions of child-labor laws
8 posted on 06/05/2009 8:48:24 PM PDT by Graybeard58 (24 shopping days to Graybeard58's 64th. b/day. Selah.)
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To: MarkL
Let me start by saying that while I’m Jewish...

99.9% of your peers vote for Democrats - every time.

Obama is now openly advocating effective eradication of Israel.

I would like to know how this happens.

Just curious.

9 posted on 06/05/2009 8:50:04 PM PDT by elkfersupper (Member of the Original Defiant Class)
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To: Graybeard58

The ‘management’ of this place needs some very long prison sentences.


10 posted on 06/05/2009 8:50:28 PM PDT by Lurker (The avalanche has begun. The pebbles no longer have a vote.)
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To: Lorianne

Short term solutions which create long term problems works every time it’s tried . . . right?


11 posted on 06/05/2009 8:51:20 PM PDT by A_Former_Democrat
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To: elkfersupper

Why don’t you come up with something original?


12 posted on 06/05/2009 8:52:14 PM PDT by dennisw (Weakness is a Crime! Don't be a Criminal - Bernarr MacFadden)
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To: exit82
Can someone tell me the part where I am supposed to start crying crocodile tears?

I am on the same page with you on that.

Let them cry me a river. if the can't operate a business without running it illegally then they should close their doors.

I don't know where all the illegals have gone in my area but there seem to be less and less. Hopefully they have returned to their countries. Job market is suppressed in this area.

13 posted on 06/05/2009 8:54:24 PM PDT by jerry639
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To: elkfersupper
99.9% of your peers vote for Democrats - every time.

Obama is now openly advocating effective eradication of Israel.

I would like to know how this happens.

Just curious.

That percentage you started with is quite overstated, but I'll certainly agree that the vast majority of Jews vote leftist, nearly 80%. Many of us who don't happen to hang out right here. And in many cases, the way Jews vote have us every bit a perplexed as you are.

Mark

14 posted on 06/05/2009 8:59:20 PM PDT by MarkL (Do I really look like a guy with a plan?)
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To: Lorianne

Good. Maybe businesses will learn not to hire illegals.

Unfortunately, as long as the penalty is only money, I think they’re likely to write it off as a business expense. They need to do some jail time and have to do the perp walk for the cameras. That changes things.


15 posted on 06/05/2009 8:59:42 PM PDT by TBP
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To: MarkL

“But let’s look at what happened here.”

The story is nonsense.

Lots of slaughterhouses got hit. They just had to hire Americans at a couple bucks an hour more. The market.

These guys are probably permanently closed for lots of things, not just hiring illegals.


16 posted on 06/05/2009 9:00:27 PM PDT by Shermy ("The whole world has financed the United States, ...they have a reciprocal debt with the planet.")
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To: Lorianne

So they would rather go bankrupt than hire American citizens?

Well then they can F’off.


17 posted on 06/05/2009 9:20:33 PM PDT by Tempest (Honk if I'm paying for your bonus.)
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To: elkfersupper

Now now, this thread is “us vs the illegals”.


18 posted on 06/05/2009 9:41:09 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Lorianne
Most of the illegal workers either accepted immediate deportation or pleaded guilty to immigration or document fraud charges, and, once they had served time, were sent home. Several dozen immigrants, mostly women, were released to care for children. They remain in Postville, but must wear electronic ankle bracelets so the government can monitor them.

These children, thanks to every branch of our government, will be the taxpayers burden. Our government has failed us at every level.

19 posted on 06/05/2009 9:48:45 PM PDT by Razz Barry (Round'em up, send'em home.)
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To: Lorianne
The writer of this piece, doesn't tell the reader anything other than the fact that the plant was raided and shut down for violations of immigration laws. It appears that this writer is only wanting to focus on "human or community suffering" caused by current federal laws.

The writer failed to paint a complete picture of the situation here, and therefore I assume that he or she has an agenda because of obvious omissions of the circumstances leading up to the situation.

What ever happened to honest journalism in this country? We never get the "complete" and "variable" facts to anything anymore.

20 posted on 06/05/2009 10:26:23 PM PDT by Hillarys nightmare (So Proud to be living in "Jesus Land" ! Don't you wish everyone did?)
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