Postville: A Story

I wrote this story to read to one of my classes to try to explain the work I have been doing in Postville in under 5 minutes. When I was preparing for the presentation, I did not even know where to start because the situation is so complicated that it seemed like whatever I talked about, I would not be doing the reality of Postville justice.  In the end I decided to write this story and I think it does a good job telling the basic story of what happened and what affect this has had on the Postville community. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful people in a land of sun.  They wore clothes in all the colors of the rainbow and spoke in many different languages. But the powerful people of their land didn't like them and decided to kill them all. This went on for years and years until the land of sun became a land of fear, sadness, and hate.  Many people could not find anywhere to work, so they had no money.  They did not have houses and could not feed their kids. So they decided to leave their land and go north to a place that would be happy and free. It was a dangerous road and they walked for a long time, catching rides when they could. About two months later they finally got to a little town called Postville, a place where people of all different colors lived together. But it wasn't quite as wonderful as they had hoped. They had jobs so that they could pay for food and houses, but their bosses made them work very hard and very long and did bad things to them. They even made children work dangerous jobs with knives and machines. But the colorful people were happy because they had food and their children could go to school. 

One day everything changed. They were working hard when they heard yells saying that ice-men were there. Some of the workers tried to run, but helicopters hovered overhead watching their every move.  Others tried to hide, but there were too many ice-men looking for them. They didn't stand a chance. The ice-men handcuffed the people and made them get on a bus to go to the fairgrounds, which had been turned into a jail. At school, their kids' teachers took them into a room and told them what had happened to their parents. The kids were very scared and they cried a lot. A little boy named Arturo was happy to see his dad when he came to get him from school. But his dad did not smile at him or tell him that everything would be OK. Instead, he yelled at him to get in the car as fast as he could so the helicopters wouldn't see him. Then Arturo hid in his basement with his Dad and his brothers and sisters for a week because they were scared that the ice-men would find them. He never saw his mom again after that because she was afraid to tell the ice-men that she had kids who needed her, so they sent her back to where she came from. Arturo misses his mommy a lot, but he tries his best to be a brave little boy.

The people that the ice-men took away did not get to say goodbye to their families and they did not know if they were ok. The ice-men let many of the women go because they knew that their kids needed them, but before they left, the ice-men strapped boxes to their ankles so that they would always know where they were. At the fairgrounds, they had beds to sleep in, but nobody slept a wink because the ice-men kept coming in and taking people away to ask them why they had left the land where they were born to come to their land without asking first.  The ice-men thought that they deserved to be in this land because they were born there. They did not care that the colorful people could not be safe at home and that they had nothing to eat. "Plus, we are ice, so clear and beautiful," they thought. "There must be something wrong with these colorful people. They talk funny." So the ice-men had a party because they were so happy that they had caught all of the colorful people. But when the colorful people heard them having fun they could not understand why they were happy that they had locked them away in a place where no one could hear them cry out for their wives and children.

A few days later, the ice-men took them to another jail. They locked them up and told them to sign strange papers that they did not understand. They made them take off all of their clothes except for one shirt and then made it as cold as possible. The colorful people were scared and did not know what was happening. Then, after being forced to stay awake for two days and enduring much taunting, they were taken before a judge who told them that they would have to go to jail for five months because they had stolen people's numbers. They did not know that they had taken other people's numbers, though. They bought the numbers and thought they were pretend. They wanted to say that they were sorry and that all they wanted to do was work hard, but they knew nobody would listen. So those colorful people were sent all over the land and their families did not know where they were. They were moved from place to place, and at each new place they had to take off their clothes so that people could make sure they were not hiding anything. They had to eat with their hands shackled together, and some people had to stay in rooms by themselves for weeks at a time. They started to lose hope and lose their grasp on reality. After many horrible months, some of the men were sent back to the land of sun, and their wives breathed sighs of relief even though they did not know when they would see them again. Some of the men were sent back to Postville, though, to tell about the bad things that their bosses did to them.

While they were in prison, some people who were clear like the ice-men but much nicer helped the families find out where many of missing people were. But the colorful people in Postville were still very sad that they could not see their dads, and brothers, and husbands. Some of the kids talked to their dads on the phone and they said, "Where are you Daddy? Why won't you come home?" They asked their moms why they had boxes strapped on their ankles. Their moms told their kids not to worry, trying to hide their pain as their skin burned from the heat of the strap, while they stood plugged into the wall for two hours every day. When other people saw these boxes, they whispered about the women and made them feel like murderers. The good clear people helped them get enough food and tried to help them with everything they needed. But so many people needed help that they could not do everything. The women and children needed a lot of help with the constant sadness in their minds. Some of the women's husbands who had not been taken away beat them and told them they were worthless, but no one noticed because colorful people were calling out for help all around. Throughout the land, people shouted that the ice-men were wrong to take the colorful people away, and that it is not OK to hurt families. They shouted that the colorful people's bosses had done some very bad things and that something should be done about it. But most people did not know what had happened or they forgot about the colorful people, and so they were silent. Then they heard a whisper. It said, "Please help us. We have no voice. Will you be our voice?"

Notes from Rigoberta Menchú's visit to Postville (11/8/08)

These are my notes from Rigoberta Menchú's visit to Postville on November 8th, 2008. Menchú is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Guatemala who survived and spoke out against genocide-like violence against the indigenous people of Guatemala. For more information about her, check out these links:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bio.html
http://www.distinguishedwomen.com/biographies/menchu.html
http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/latinamerica/rigoberta/rigoberta_story.html

During her visit there was a day-long program at St. Bridget's Catholic Church in Postville including a time to share stories, a communal meal, a ecumenical church service, and a march to Agriprocessors. At the beginning Menchú stood up and told of the people of Postville that they were the brothers and sisters of the people in the Guatemala and that people in Guatemala knew what had happened to them and cared about them. However, she did not take very much time and seemed to be more interested in hearing the testimonies of the people affected by the raid. Here are my notes of what they said to Menchú and many others who were there to listen. I originally wrote them in bullet point format, so they are not necessarily fluidly connected. However, they are very detailed and I think they will give you a good picture of how the raid has affected the lives of real people. I will not use names because I have not asked permission to do so.

Testimony of a woman:
- When the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) people came she tried to hide and the ICE officials beat her.
-She said, "I wanted to speak to the president."
- Donations to Postville are slowing down.
-They want Menchú to talk to Obama because all they want to do is work.
- They have trouble paying their bills.
-They want Menchú to be their voice.
-They don't want to ask for charity.
- She's frustrated that she can't send money to her husband.
- They want a future instead of being poor farmers.
- They want Menchú to be the mediator.

(My additional comments: In Guatemala many people were poor farmers who did not have a market because of trade agreements with the U.S. (NAFTA and CAFTA) which flooded Latin American markets with American goods that were cheaper than the Latin Americans goods. Therefore the Guatemalans and Mexicans could not sell their goods for the price it took to produce them and could not make money. This is why they want to come here to work.)

Testimony of a single mother:
- Women and children are getting psychological help.
- Children don't understand the bracelets.
- The bracelets hurt.
- They feel ashamed of the bracelets.
- She wanted a better life for her children.
-They detained her son for 4 nights and 4 days.
- During her testimony, many of the women showed Menchú their electronic shackles (bracelets).
- When they charge them it burns and if they don't the immigration officer calls them.
-People in the food pantry tell them that the food is not for Mexicans or Guatemalans –just Americans.
- People look at them like criminals when they see the bracelets.
- This makes them not want to wear skirts.
- Someone in Decorah told her husband that maybe a woman with an ankle
bracelet killed someone.
- People sent donations with the people affected by the raid in mind and yet people are treating them badly when they benefit from donations.

(My additional comments: Bracelets are tracking devices that are strapped on to many people's ankles in Postville. They were put on many mothers so that they could return to Postville to take care of their children. They were also put on some men who are being kept in the Decorah/Postville area to possibly serve as witnesses in a case against their employer, Agriprocessors. The tracking devices are about the size of a small walkie-talkie and are attached to the ankle with a thick strap. They must be plugged into an outlet for 2 hours a day to charge, which is very restrictive. They heat up when they are being charged, which can be painful. In my opinion, these tracking devices promote the view of immigrants as criminals, which is not a very realistic picture.)

Testimony of a minor (16-year-old) who was detained:
- He was questioned and he answered but they didn't believe him.
- They put paper bracelets on him that meant different things.
- They put him in a bus all day long until they took him to Waterloo.
- They were shackled with one chain around their arms, legs and waist, but it was a short chain, so they couldn't really walk.
- When they got there, they took their shackles off.
- Then they had to take off their clothes except for one shirt and they turned the temperature down to the lowest setting.
- Then they interrogated them again.
-They were fingerprinted and photographed.
- They checked his background and then told him that he would be released.
- But even though they told him he would be released, that didn't happen.
- They told him that if his aunt didn't come to pick him up, he would be put in jail.
- He got contradictory answers. His aunt told him over the phone that they had told her that they wouldn't let him out. But he told her that he was told that if she didn't come pick him up, he wouldn't be released.
- They told him that he would be released but that he still needed to go to court.
-He had to sign papers that he didn't understand.

Testimony of a boy whose mother was arrested and deported:
-His mother was afraid to say that she had children, so she was detained.
- It "scarred his heart".
- When the teachers told the kids at school what happened, it was like when the black people had to be separated from the whites.
- The school was in chaos.
- When his dad got there, he told him to get in the car fast so that the helicopters wouldn't see them.
- His dad said they had to hide in the basement for a week, and they could only leave for food and the bathroom.
- His mom was in jail in Georgia with murderers and thieves. This made him cry.
- He said, "God helped me get through this and talk to you people."

Testimony of a man who was held in jail for 5 months:
-He was sent to different jails, isolated sometimes, and didn't know about his family.
- There were rumors about ICE coming, but people though it would be on the 13th of May, not the 12th.
- 15 minutes later immigration arrived.
- He wanted to run but there were helicopters surrounding the area.
- Everyone was trying to run and he went to the 2nd floor and tried to hide for several hours.
-They found him in the afternoon and asked them if they had weapons.
- He got the paper bracelets.
- He was taken on the last bus to Waterloo.
- They took them to the fairgrounds in Waterloo, where they usually show the cattle.
- There were beds there for them, but the ICE people interrogated them and didn't let them sleep.
- They ICE operatives had a party to celebrate the success of the raid.
- It was traumatic to be in jail.
- They were told that they would have a hearing and would find out what the charge against them would be.
- He couldn't communicate with his family.
- The day they were taken to court, they wore shackles from 6am- 9pm.
- It was hard to eat and drink.
- They were given a 5 month sentence.
- He was really worried about his family.
- After 3 weeks, his wife and child visited him. He was said because he tried to reach for his child but he couldn't because there was a glass wall in between.
- He thanked God that he could see them.
- He felt worse after because he knew he wasn't going to see them for a long time.
- He stayed there for 1.5 months.
- Then they told him he would be transferred and he was taken to Madison.
- They took him to a high-security cell.
- He had to have all his meals in these cells by himself- this was true of people in isoation even when they needed medicine. He stayed there for 15 days, but it felt like an eternity.
- He was told he would be transferred and taken to Kansas City and when he got there , he was strip-searched again.
- They stayed in a conference room because they did not have enough cells.
- He was there for 3 months with 2 criminals and his only crime was being a hardworking man.
- When there was 2 weeks left his lawyer called and told him he would be able to choose to either return to Postville with a work permit, or stay in jail until the government needed him.
- He chose the work permit so he could find out about his family.
- There was really bad food in jail – potatoes for every meal.
- Then he was taken to Dubuque and then to Cedar Rapids for another
court hearing but he and the other men did not know if they would be released or not.
- They were released, but they are still not completely free because they have the ankle bracelets.
- They were asked to sign papers that they didn't understand.
-The immigration officials made jokes about them.
- They had to eat with shackles.
- They had to wear the same clothes over and over.
- He was in four jails and each time he was searched like a criminal again.
- He said, "Since when has trying to feed you're family become a crime."
- They didn't understand when the people explained the papers they were told to sign.
- They were charged with identity theft.
- They were not told about the identity theft until later.
- They were supposed to be charged by immigration law but it was changed to identity theft, which is a criminal charge.

Others notes stated at the end of the presentation:
- Immigration lawyers were not allowed into court.
- They didn't have the option of having a lawyer provided to them if couldn't afford it.
- These people were already exploited by Agriprocessors before the raid.
- They hid minors, and the minors worked with dangerous equipment and were injured.
- They worked 14 hours a day.
- It was really dirty and there was bad working conditions.
- Women were exploited and sexually harassed, and asked for sexual favors.
- If it's a crime to work without papers the crimes of the company must also be considered.
- The company knew they were using fake papers and when an inspector
was coming the employers asked workers to get new papers.
- None of the owners of the plant have been charged.
- The person from Agriprocessors did not spend one night in prison- That's what money does in the wrong hands.

These are the words of the people of Postville. They are shocking and revealing and most importantly they are true.

Media Coverage of Postville: Agriprocessors

Through archiving articles about Postville, I have found out a lot about Agriprocessors, the plant where the raid happened in May.  One thing that I thought was surprising was that the plant was able to replace many of the arrested workers shortly after the raid.  During the past summer, many Somali immigrants came to the plant to replace the Mexican and Guatemalan ones.  It is shocking that Agriprocessors was able to go as long as it did without any repercussions.  It was also disturbing to discover the violations that Agriprocessors has been charged with since the raid.  Agriprocessors did not allow their employees to unionize because they said that the votes of illegal immigrants in favor of unionizing did not count, which is against the law.  23 employees also claimed that they had not been payed overtime for the time it took them to set up before and clean up after shifts.  Agriprocessors is also facing charges of child labor.  I am pretty sure that these allegations are correct, as well, because I know a teenage boy who was working there.  There have also been accusations of sexual harrassment.  According to an article in the New York Times, one man said that they didn't give workers breaks when they were working and he often worked 17 hour days.  When the workers complained about the harsh conditions, the people in charge told them that they would call immigration if they complained.  Agriprocessors has also been accused of many safety violations.  It was shocking to find out how much power employers have when they can threaten to report their employees to immigration and how this power can be abused.  

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.  

Media Coverage of Postville: ICE and the response of Politicians

I have been archiving newspaper articles about the raid in Postville and it's aftermath for the church where I've been volunteering to use as a record of the media coverage and to explain what happened to people who want more information.  One thing that I learned more about from doing this archiving was the role of ICE in the raid.  I discovered that ICE used undercover agents to investigate the plant before the raid.  They sent someone to try to get a job at the plant to see what was going on inside.  The informant saw that there was a system for undocumented employees at the plant.  They even got paychecks that were a different color than everyone else's, which makes it obvious that Agriprocessors knew of their immigration status.  The informant also witnesses a supervisor duct-taping a worker's eyes shut and hitting him with a meat hook.  However this incident was never reported.  

ICE also used the National Cattle Congress to hold immigrants in detention.  The Cattle Congress is a fairgrounds that is used for many different kinds of events.  According to the president of the Cattle Congress no one on staff there knew that it would be used to detain immigrants and try them.  He said that they thought it would be used for Homeland Security training.  However, he admits that the government did not do anything against the terms of their lease agreement.  In addition, when a representative from the Guatemalan consulate toured the facility he did not find anything inhumane.  

Another article claimed that the release of people who had children to take care of was an improvement over previous raids.  Yet another said that the majority of people who the raid was targeted at were not prosecuted, which suggests that perhaps the raid was more of a scare tactic than an effort to actually enforce laws.  However, according to the La Crosse Tribune, more than 4,900 immigrants have been deported in the last year from Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota, so plenty of people are actually being prosecuted.  

The immediate reactions of various politicians to the raid were also interesting to read about.  Iowa Governor, Chet Culver responded by saying that it is "important to crack down of illegal immigration"... "I have also directed relevant state agencies to convene a working group under Lt. Governor's direction to ensure that state agencies are assisting the community in dealing with this event."  However, there has been almost no assistance from the state government in Postville.  Culver also said that he was troubled and was concerned about how the raid reflects on businesses in Iowa.  Bruce Braley, a representative for Iowa, expressed concern for the families but also said that there should be consequences for law-breakers.  He also said that it is important to enforce laws for employers as well and encouraged an investigation of Agriprocessors.  He also asked for a figure for how much the raid cost taxpayers from ICE.  Senator Tom Harkin also called for an investigation.  He said that immigration laws should be enforced, but should be enforced on both employers and employees.  It is interesting that not one of them questioned the legitimacy of laws that are so consistently broken and did not ask why people would be desperate enough to come here illegally.  

Lt. Governor Patty Judge finally visited Postville on December 4th after a citizen's group repeatedly sent her pleas to come and church leaders sent her a letter.  After hearing concerns from former Agriprocessors workers about their ability to feed their children and buy Christmas presents, Judge expressed her sympathy but didn't state any plan for assistance.  The only thing she said was that a couple AmericCorps volunteers would be moving to Postville and the $700,000 in aid was available for people who are not allowed to work.  However, the AmeriCorps workers came to Luther and said that they are only staying for 2 weeks.  Some government aid!

Being an Outsider: Language is Power / Church Involvement and Relief Efforts

In Postville this week, I was struck by the ways that language can determine many things about your life especially in the U.S.  Here, people usually do not know more than one language and are not interested in learning other languages.  This means that people who do not speak English often do not have the same resources as English speakers or do not understand how to access them.  It was interesting to think about this when I was surrounded by people who all speak a language that is not my first language.  I am relatively proficient in Spanish, but when I am surrounded by Spanish speakers who are talking to each other, I can get really confused and feel like a vulnerable outsider.  Unlike many of the immigrants in Postville, I have been in school since age five, I know how to learn, and I have taken college-level Spanish.  However, I still feel very vulnerable and stupid at times when I am surrounded by Spanish speakers because I am not fluent.  I think I can understand somewhat what it must be like to come to a new country and not understand what everybody is saying.  This would make the most basic things very difficult.  I think it would also negatively affect your self-esteem because you would be unsure about things much of the time.  

Another thing that struck me was that the women were getting gallons of milk from the church to bring home with them, whereas I  have to pour out part of a gallon of milk that the girls I live with and I could not finish before it expired.  The contrast between life in Postville and life half an hour away at Luther is stark.  All of the people in Postville are so dependent on the church for basic necessities.  I was told that after the raid the government's strategy was to rely on "local N.G.O's" for support for the people who's lives were torn apart.  However, in rural areas there are no N.G.O.'s.  There are only churches, and churches have born a huge burden responding to this situation.  The problem with this, however, is that pastors, priests and other lay-workers are not always trained to respond to the needs of the people.  There is only one lawyer who works on the Postville cases pro bono once a month, so church workers have had to navigate the legal system, which they are not trained in in order to help people.  They are also usually not trained in mental health care and treatment, which is a very great need for the people of Postville, especially the women and children.  The other problem is that they are so overwhelmed by trying to respond to issues surrounding the raid, that they are unable to effectively address other issues that are pressing.  They are not at all to blame for this.  Rather, they have been overwhelmed by a situation much larger than they are equipped to address, and this is harmful to the victims of the raid.  Therefore, ICE enforced the law in a way that left the community in pieces and then did not make any effort to follow up on the needs of the people that it left behind.  

Domestic Violence vs. Family Separation

I heard some really sad stories this week in Postville. I asked the women how their children were doing with the situation, namely their fathers being in jail or deported. One women, with tear-filled eyes, told me that she has little kids, the oldest of whom was six and that it is really hard for them to understand why their father is gone. Her husband is still in jail and she said that when they talk to him on the phone her kids ask when he will come back. It is really hard for her not to have answers for her children. All of the women agreed that it is hard for the children that their fathers are gone. This separation is one of the biggest problems with the way immigrants are treated in the U.S.

After this story was told, I asked another woman why her husband was still here and she said that he was laid off a couple months before the raid and was therefore not arrested. She then proceeded to tell me that her husband beats her. She told me that a couple years ago the police came after an incident of battering and social workers were brought in to document her case and whatnot. She said that she asked about 7 lawyers for help with her case and all of them told her that they could not help her because if the case were to be brought to court, she would just be deported because of her undocumented status. One lawyer finally thought he could help her, but I think she must have decided not to press the charges because she told me that her husband did not know about any of it.  (Later she told me that this lawyer is helping her apply for permission to stay here and work, and she doesn't think she can do anything about her husband until that is figured out.  She also said that she does not want to do anything because he is the father of her children and the youngest children do not know that any of this is happening, so they would not understand.)  She said that she is still having problems will her husband treating her badly.  She used the word "golpear", which means to hit or punch someone.  She also said that he treats her like a servant.  One thing that she said really struck me.  Roughly translated, she said, "Everybody pays attention to the people who's families are separated and the women who are missing their husbands, but they forget about the women who do not want to be with their husbands."  I was really caught off guard by this, but it is very true.  There is so much going on and so many needs in Postville, that there are simply not enough people to address anything other than the direct repercussions of the raid.  

This woman's story says a lot about the intersectionality of oppression that immigrant women often face, and her story is far from unique.  She told me that she knows many other women who have also been abused.  (Later she told me that it is part of the culture and therefore she cannot do anything about it.  However, after some conversation she seemed to accept that if she does at some point want to address the situation there are resources available for her.)  Because of the way privilege and power are set up in our society, these women are oppressed because of their nationality and their sex.  Because of their citizenship status, they are criminalized and treated as less than human.  In addition, within their own ethnic group they are oppressed because of their sex.  Domestic Violence, contrary to popular opinion, is not committed because the batterer has anger issues or problems with alcoholism or anything else.  It is simply done out of the desire to control another person.  This is obvious, when one considers that battering is always done in private by someone who seems like a normal decent person from the outside.  If battering were caused by uncontrollable anger, it would happen in public, not just in private.  It is also not done because the woman provokes it or "is asking for it", which I think is an unspoken but prevalent assumption.  Another thing that is very hard to understand is why women stay in these relationships.  Women often stay out of concern for their children or because they are financially dependent on their abuser.  However, even the most independent of women who do not have deportation hanging over their head are still kept in relationships because they have been manipulated and conditioned to do so by their partner and have been repeatedly told that they are worthless until they believe it.  It was very hard to hear this woman's story.  But it clearly illustrates the layers of oppression that immigrant women in the U.S. must confront every day.