Run Postville, IA through Wikipedia. You’ll see the kosher meat processing plant was started by a group of Hasidic Jews from New York. A number of managers have been indicted not only for employing illegals but for child labor violations.
There was another meat processing plant at one time, but it burned down in 2003, then rebuilt elsewhere. There’s also a plastics factory in town.
There seems to be a fairly high number of single person households (IMO). I’d say they were there because of work and for no other reason. Without the work, those who were legal likely moved on.
It seems that some Jews had problems with this kosher plant for using slaughter methods that were inhumane and contrary to kosher law.
The plant was in trouble before the INS raid.
I forgot about the child labor violations. Hang ‘em all.
Though I don’t keep kosher, I am Jewish and it bothered me to no end that a place that’s supposed to provide kosher food was involved in hiring illegals, child labor, and animal torture. If you believe in an fair wage for labor, how do you exploit illegals just to decrease wage costs? In addition, there are videos on YouTube of the slaughterers taking out the cows’ tracheas. That’s not part of Jewish ritual slaughter. There was nothing Jewish or even humane about how that plant treated workers or the animals.