Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Hundreds arrested in raid at Iowa meatpacking plant
POSTVILLE, Iowa — Federal immigration agents in northeastern Iowa have arrested at least 300 people in a raid on the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.
U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth says the raid on the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville is the largest operation of its kind in Iowa history and followed months of planning.
Authorities arrived at the plant, located in the southwestern corner of Allamakee County, about
10 a.m. and presented company officials with search warrants. Agents asked to speak with all the employees, and plant officials cooperated and shut down their operations.
The raid was aimed at seeking evidence of identity theft, stolen Social Security numbers and for people who are in the country illegally, said Tim Counts, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman.
Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, said
family members of plant workers came to the nearby church in tears.
“The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters,” McCauley said Monday morning. “They are just panic-stricken and very frightened and some of them are coming to the church as a safe haven.“
The church is about five blocks from the plant, she said.
She said rumors began swirling around the community on Friday about an upcoming raid, leaving many people worried.
She said Immigration officials arrived with buses, vans and two helicopters.
Many of the plant workers are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, she said.
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