By Meghan Powers and The Associated Press
News correspondent
Updated May 12. 2008 1:45PM
POSTVILLE - UPDATE
Immigration Custom Enforcement entered Agri Processors here this morning as part of an ongoing investigation and to execute, criminal search warrants for aggravated identify theft, fraudulant use of Social Security numbers and other crimes and a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States. Tim Counts, ICE spokesperson, said they have no idea on numbers yet.
Those arrested will be questioned by ICE to determine if they have medical, caregiver or other humanitarian needs.
The interviews will help determine if those arrested will be detained or conditionally released on humanitarian grounds.
Counts said the Department of Human Services was contacted before the raid begain and a 24-hour information hot line - 1-866-341-3858 - for family members was established.
Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, told The Associated Press that family members of plant workers were coming to the nearby church in tears.
“The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters,” McCauley said. “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.
She said she went to the plant to help provide information and assist workers but was not allowed to get close.
“Some of the people that are going to be detained are up against a fence and now they’re tying their hands,” she said.
Many of the plant workers are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, she said.
Agriprocessors is the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.
The raid comes after immigration rights activists said they feared the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo may have been converted into a detention center.
Those concerns were prompted by an announcement last week that federal officials have leased the fairgrounds through May 25. The government said earlier this month that it leased the fairgrounds for a training exercise.
Doug Miller, general manager of the fairgrounds, said he was not allowed to release many details but that massive generators had been installed next to many of the buildings and windows had been covered up. A number of trailers have also been set up at the site.
Waterloo is about 75 miles from Postville.
In December 2006, ICE raided the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown, arresting at least 90 workers as part of a six-state raid.
Several of the workers were taken to Camp Dodge in Johnston and held in military barracks.
About 1,280 Swift workers were arrested in the raid in Iowa and the five other states in the biggest crackdown in history on immigration violations at one company.
Gov. Chet Culver to address the incident
Today, at 2:20 PM in the Kennedy conference room, following the SF 2400 bill signing, Governor Chet Culver will deliver a statement and discuss the U.S. Immigration and Customs activity occurring in Postville.
Those arrested will be questioned by ICE to determine if they have medical, caregiver or other humanitarian needs.
The interviews will help determine if those arrested will be detained or conditionally released on humanitarian grounds.
Counts said the Department of Human Services was contacted before the raid begain and a 24-hour information hot line - 1-866-341-3858 - for family members was established.
Sister Mary McCauley, a Roman Catholic nun at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, told The Associated Press that family members of plant workers were coming to the nearby church in tears.
“The people right now are hearing and seeing the helicopters,” McCauley said. “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.
She said she went to the plant to help provide information and assist workers but was not allowed to get close.
“Some of the people that are going to be detained are up against a fence and now they’re tying their hands,” she said.
Many of the plant workers are Hispanic, mostly from Mexico and Guatemala, she said.
Agriprocessors is the world’s largest kosher meatpacking plant.
The raid comes after immigration rights activists said they feared the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo may have been converted into a detention center.
Those concerns were prompted by an announcement last week that federal officials have leased the fairgrounds through May 25. The government said earlier this month that it leased the fairgrounds for a training exercise.
Doug Miller, general manager of the fairgrounds, said he was not allowed to release many details but that massive generators had been installed next to many of the buildings and windows had been covered up. A number of trailers have also been set up at the site.
Waterloo is about 75 miles from Postville.
In December 2006, ICE raided the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown, arresting at least 90 workers as part of a six-state raid.
Several of the workers were taken to Camp Dodge in Johnston and held in military barracks.
About 1,280 Swift workers were arrested in the raid in Iowa and the five other states in the biggest crackdown in history on immigration violations at one company.
Gov. Chet Culver to address the incident
Today, at 2:20 PM in the Kennedy conference room, following the SF 2400 bill signing, Governor Chet Culver will deliver a statement and discuss the U.S. Immigration and Customs activity occurring in Postville.
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