Postville Remembered

One year ago today, hundreds of ICE agents descended on the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and arrested nearly 400 workers.  The nearby Cattle Congress fairground was revamped to process migrants.  The prosecutors and judge were already prepared, the plea bargains in place, one public defender for up to 17 defendants, little immigration representation to speak of was permitted--this was true assembly line justice.  Under threat of two-year sentences for harsh aggravated identity theft charges, with indefinite detention for any who contested the charges, almost all the workers took the 5-month plea sentences they were offered and were then deported.

The most damning account of the Postville debacle is still Erik Camayd-Freixas's (pdf) inside view--as a federal interpreter during the proceedings, he could not keep silent after what he saw.

The legal theory behind the Postville prosecutions has been rejected by a unanimous Supreme Court.  Some of us have wondered whether such dubious prosecutions should be rewarded with promotions.

The raids weren't very good for the citizens of Postville, either.  Marcelo Ballvé recently took a close look at how the raids hit the town hard just before the worst recession in 70 years.  Not long after the raids, I wrote about two people I heard speak who were involved in the aftermath.

And David Leopold publishes a letter from one family ripped apart by the raids, and shares some thoughts on what Postville means for America.