Postville Comes Back to Roost for U.S. Attorney Nominee

Since May 2008, Postville has become synonomous with immigrtaion enforcement run amok.  Hundreds of immigrant workers at the Postville, Iowa Agriprocessors (and here) meat processing plant were railroaded by the criminal prosecution/deportation machine that shocked many people by with solittle semblance of justice.  Now, a U.S. Attorney nominee is drawing fire for her role in the Postville raid. Jens Manuel Krogstad writes on this story.  Senator Tom Harkin’s recommendation for the U.S. Attorney post in northern Iowa is running into opposition for her role in the federal immigration raid on Agriprocessors last year. Harkin recommended assistant U.S.Attorney Stephanie Rose to take the U.S. Attorney position. Rose would become the first woman appointed to the post. Attorneys critical of the Postville operation have asked Harkin and President Barack Obama’s immigration team to investigate Rose’s role in the operation.

Krogstad’s story states that

“A litany of ethical and constitutional concerns have been raised over court proceedings at National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, where a temporary court processed 389 detained workers in four days.

Some of the charges leveled against the federal government include: Denying adequate legal representation by assigning as many as 17 defendants to an attorney; the breakdown of separation of powers when Chief Judge Linda R. Reade participated in ex-parte communications by approving plea agreements and moving the court an hour north to Waterloo without the defense’s knowledge; and the use of aggressive plea agreements that expired after seven days.

The tactics have made a huge splash in the legal community nationwide. A judicial clerk for Reade, the presiding judge in the Agriprocessors criminal proceedings, authored a law review article entitled, “Butchering Statutes: The Postville Raid and the Misinterpretation of Federal Law.” In it, Peter Moyers argues federal prosecutors misused the criminal identity theft and judicial removal laws that made the speedy mass prosecutions possible.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about the use of criminal identity theft charges against undocumented workers who don’t knowingly steal identities because they don’t know if their Social Security numbers are fake or belong to another person. The case originated in the Southern District of Iowa.

James Benzoni, a Des Moines immigration attorney, said the ethical and legal violations in the Agriprocessors case were so atrocious than anyone involved was obligated to raise concerns.”

KJ