Postville One Year Later

Tony Leys writes in the Des Moines Register:

Several hundred immigration-reform supporters plan to gather in Postville [today] to mark the one-year anniversary of the federal raid on the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant.

Scores of federal agents raided the plant last May 12 and arrested nearly 400 immigrant workers who were in the United States illegally. The raid was one of the largest of its kind in U.S. history, and most of the immigrants wound up serving five months in prison before being deported to Guatemala or Mexico.

Critics say the raid was a publicity stunt that devastated Postville without making a dent in the nation’s immigration problems.

“No community should have to go through what Postville has had to go through in the past year,” said Maryn Olson, a community activist.

Olson said organizers of Tuesday’s commemoration do not expect as many people as showed up for a prayer vigil and march last July, which drew more than 1,000 people and garnered national media attention. But she said some supporters will take buses in from Chicago, Minneapolis and elsewhere.

Also, people around the country who can’t make it to Postville intend to hold services showing their solidarity, she said. “Postville and what happened here have become a rallying point.”

Tuesday’s events are to include a 4 p.m. prayer vigil at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church, followed by a 5 p.m. “solidarity walk” to the Agriprocessors plant. Click here for a related story.

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