Last Visit to Postville for the Semester

My last visit to Postville this week was interesting and empowering.  I helped four of the people that I meet with write a letter to Obama.  They had many things to say.  One woman said (roughly translated from Spanish).  "The question I have for the government is... why don't you help us who are inside the country when you help so many others outside... I ask please that you do not abandon us.  Let us stay here.  Don't send us back to the violence."  Another woman said "In my country there are no opportunities for my kids to study.  I would like permission to work. My parents depend on me to support them.  They are in Guatemala."  Another woman said, "We want an answer because we have kids and they want to eat.  There are no opportunities in Guatemala and my kids can't go to school.  We need to stay and we want our friends to stay."   One of the teenage boys who lives in Postville said, "I had illusions of working here in the U.S. for 2 years.   But on the 12th of May my illusions were shattered.  Now there is no answer about if we will be deported or if there is a chance we can work here.  I have been waiting 7 months without any answer.  The people writing this letter speak for all the people affected by the raid.  We want an opportunity to study and to work only."  These are their words.  They are words worth listening to.