Bureaucratic Snag Cuts Tourist Weddings In Fiji

          I spent 12 days helping in Postville with the horrendous aftermath of the May 12 raid at Agriprocessors, Inc. Of the 389 arrested, most of the minors were released because they had family to return to in Postville. Those who did not were taken into protective services.

          One of the things that I helped with was initial intakes for the lawyers with some of the minors. Because of confidentiality requirements, I cannot tell you specifics of any particular case. However, in other encounters with some of these minors, I saw evidence of several injuries they received while working at the plant: burns from the steam of hot water used for knives, scars from hooks, missing fingers because of knife accidents.

          From many others I learned that almost everyone, including minors, worked 10-12 hours a day with two breaks of maybe 15 minutes and maybe 20-30 minutes for a food break. Those were the only times they were allowed to use the restrooms.

          Most of the people I talked to, including minors, had walked most of the way from the border of Guatemala to the U.S. border, sometimes riding on a bus, with only one meal a day. One lad walked from Laredo to San Antonio to get a bus to Postville.

          Why do they endure such conditions? Because of extreme poverty in their country, the desire to help their families, the desire to better themselves and to have a better life for their children.  Many helped support family members still in Guatemala or Mexico.

          One woman that I helped would not have gotten her rent deposit back from the realtor except that I was there and he did not want bad publicity. She told me when we got outside that she was sending it to her four children in Guatemala so they could have food.

          Of those arrested, 40 women and three men were released to care for their minor children. They are wearing GPS ankle bracelets (to monitor their whereabouts). They have no means of support except what the church (St. Bridget’s in Postville) is doing for them. They are receiving court dates for October through December and can do nothing about providing for their families.

          I helped for four afternoons with the process for receiving financial aid. This money has been donated for those affected by the raid. It has come from all over the country. How long the money will continue to come in, especially in light of the need for help for flood victims, is certainly in question.

          Help is given for rent, although St. Bridget’s has gotten many of the landlords to lower the amount somewhat, for electric, and/or gas, water and phone. Food is being provided through the local food pantry (also affected by the flood in Waterloo where the food bank is located) — but that is being stretched to the limit. The week after I left they were expecting a semi-trailer of donated food from a Jewish community in Ohio. One might say the phone is a luxury, but the people need some means for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) representatives to keep in contact with them. This leads to another problem.

          For those who have someone in federal custody, the only way to communicate with them is through a phone system whereby the detainee calls collect and the first minute is $4 and 25 cents a minute after that.

          Especially in the first weeks after the raid, this resulted in large phone bills. A cultural factor is also in play with those detained.  In Guatemala, most of these people lived through years when a family member was taken away by the authorities and disappeared — the “desaparacidos” — never to be seen again. So when they cannot find out where detained family members are being held, that adds to their terror.

          At least two people are working every day to find out where the detained are. We have a list that is only fairly accurate because the flood caused three jails to be evacuated. Added to that, federal prisoners are being moved to other facilities, some to federal prisons — in Leavenworth, Kan., and Monroe, La., for example — or to county jails out of state.
Several people are working to obtain travel documents for those still in Postville, particularly with those who have GPS bracelets and those who have a family member detained. Once those with bracelets have a court date, they probably will be deported. Once those who are detained have served their five-month sentences, they will be deported and their families in Postville will return with them. Many have children who were born in the United States and need a U.S. passport to travel with their parents out of the country.

          Those who are Mexican need an “apostille,” which is a special seal demanded by Mexico for those born in the U.S. to enter school in Mexico or to receive services from the Mexican government, particularly medical care. The process is long, costly and involves a lot of paperwork. Some fees may be waived, but I am not certain of that.

          One night, an Iowa, Chicago & Eastern train went through Postville with the letters IC&E on the railroad cars. The people thought that ICE was coming for them. The very high level of fear, the uncertainty of where detained loved ones are and the lack of any means to sustain them all add to the trauma.

          And what did this raid accomplish?  Devastation among about 1,000 people, which will affect the rest of the town as well, great cost to the U.S. government, and the loss of students in the school system, thus fewer teachers will be needed. The raid did nothing for comprehensive immigration reform.

          There were many abuses rampant in this plant, but the Department of Labor was, and I hope still is, investigating this. These abuses need to cease; that is true, but the raid did not accomplish that either.
The staff at St. Bridget’s and many volunteers are giving those affected by this raid much moral, emotional and practical support.

Region gets its own foreign secretariat

Guwahati, June 15: Move over Delhi. For the Northeast, foreign policy just became a next door affair.