Postville decimated by immigration raid one year ago

[Robbien]

Source: The Gazette

<snip>

Like many other Postville residents, Menahem suffers the ill effects of what local clergy describe as a government-inflicted disaster comparable to the floods and tornadoes that ravaged other parts of Iowa last year.

The arrests of 389 Agriprocessors workers and the tearing apart of their families, followed by criminal charges against plant supervisors, including former top executive Sholom Rubashkin, plunged the town's leading employer into bankruptcy and a shutdown that put hundreds more employees out of work.

"Drive down main street, and you'll see the condition of Postville. Five businesses have closed, and more are in the process," said the Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, a leader in the Catholic Church's ministry to Postville's Latino community. Hispanic attendance at Postville's St. Bridget Catholic Church, he said, declined sharply after the raid, which led to the deportation of hundreds of mostly Guatemalan and Mexican workers.


A year later, St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry is still caring for 30 families, most of which include members awaiting court hearings, and Ouderkirk said the ministry has hired a psychiatric counselor to help church wards cope with stress caused by the raid and its aftermath.


much more . . .


Read more: http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090510/NEWS/705109994/1006

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And another article today in the Quad City Times:
http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_ca5b36ba-3d0d-11de-a14b-001cc4c03286.html

A year after Agriprocessors raid, Postville still struggles

POSTVILLE, Iowa — People fill the sidewalk outside the food pantry every Wednesday as downtown Postville’s businesses wake up and open their doors.

Since Agriprocessors, the town’s kosher meatpacking plant, declared bankruptcy in November, it’s about the only reason people fill downtown. A mix of longtime residents and Latino immigrants arrive to grab numbers to ensure they walk the aisles first when the pantry opens in the afternoon.

. . .

But like the rest of Postville, Toj is tired. She is tired of waiting in line, tired of not working and most of all, tired of an uncertain future. “When it’s sunny, raining or cold, you’re out here, because if you come later you don’t get anything good,” she said.

A year of uncertainty has taken its toll on the small town. Postville’s mayor resigned this spring in frustration and exhaustion. City leaders, churches and passionate volunteers have struggled to work together behind a unified vision for the future of Postville.

much more . . .