Perfidy in Iowa

430 Pages·2017·9.57 MB·English

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Yated Ne’eman
© 2018
53 OLYMPIA LANE • MONSEY, NY 10952
Page 2 Perfi dy in Iowa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Group Campaigns Against Kosher Meat 6 Government Fumbles in Rubashkin State Trial 123
Kosher Meat-Packing Plant Raided; Hundreds Arrested 7 Watching a Case Crumble 126
Immigration Raid Shakes Small Town 9 Not Guilty 129
Rubashkins: Buckling Isn’t An Option 11 Behind the Smoke and Mirrors 132
Agriprocessors Steps Up Production 13 Massive Monsey Rubashkin Event 135
Who Do They Think They Are? 15 Draws 3,000 People 135
Uri L’Tzedek Cancels Rubashkin Boycott 17 The Numbers Don’t Add Up 137
Rhyme and Reason 18 Rallies Across the Country for Reb Sholom Mordechai 140
Lynch by Media 20 Free Sholom Rubashkin! 143
Why? 23 Perfi dy in Iowa 146
The Lies & the Facts 25 Global Response 148
What We Saw in Postville 27 Rubashkin Achdus Goes Global 151
In Every Generation 29 Never Again 153
An Interview with Rabbi Menachem Genack 31 Outpouring of Solidarity in Lakewood 156
Equal Protection Under the Law 34 Voices Added to the Growing Chorus for Rubashkin 158
Protests Against Incarceration Without Bail 35 A Ray of Hope 160
What a World We Would Have 37 Examining the Motion 161
Do Your Part 39 Emergency Motion for Mistrial 163
Why are you Guys so Busy with Shalom Rubashkin 40 Weiner Writes AG On Rubashkin 166
Rubashkin Gets Bail 42 Motion in Rubashkin Case 167
Yisro and Apathy 43 Supporting The Rubashkin Motion 169
Shalom Mordechai Responds to Media Attack on Shechitah 46 Divrei Chizuk Mima’amakim 171
A Modern Day Blood Libel? 48 Kiruv Imperatives 173
Real Ahavas Yisroel 50 “Unity for Justice” - The Video 175
The FBI Unmasked 52 Achdus Lessons 176
What If? 54 Pressure Mounts for Justice Dept. Investigation 178
Rubashkin Trial Underway 57 “I Will Thank You Forever” 179
Rubashkin On Trial 59 Letters from Congressmen 180
An Exhilarating Shabbos in Sioux Falls 63 Rubashkin Case Tests American Justice 182
Yemei Hadin 67 The Lie At The Heart Of The Postville Documentary 185
Sunsets and Headlines 69 Congressional Hearing On Overcriminalization 188
Rubashkin Defense Begins Presenting its Case 70 One Nation Under... Arrest? 190
Rubashkin Trial Wraps Up 73 Rubbing Salt On Fresh Wounds 193
A Travesty of Justice 77 Rubashkin Attorney Speaks Out About New FOIA Lawsuit 195
Justice Denied 78 Taking Chanukah’s Infi nite Power Into The Year 196
Klal Yisroel, Where Are You? 80 Massive Asifa in Far Rockaway 197
Sadness in Sioux Falls 82 Massive Turnout at Five Towns Rally for Rubashkin 200
The Truth about the Trial 85 Rubashkin Attorneys File Appeal 203
Rubashkin Lawyer Speaks Out 88 Government Struggling To Put The Genie Back In The Bottle 205
Bringing The Joy of Chanukah to Sioux Falls 91 AG Holder Ignoring Appeals from Congress 207
Something is Rotten In The Justice Culture 92 Judge’s Denunciation of Postville Prosecutions 209
Confi dent Simcha 95 Scandal Upon Scandal 211
Perfi dy and Justice 97 Government Undermines Justice Blocks Amicus Curiae 212
J’Accuse 100 Government Removes Opposition to Amicus Curiae 214
Trial Transcript Reveals Web of Lies 103 Government Contests Rubashkin Appeal 215
His Story is Ours 107 Magen Tzedek: The Sham Behind The Shield 219
Life? How Can They? 109 The Stain That Won’t Wash 222
The Fight Against a Life Sentence 110 Doubts About Federal Judge Haunt Case 225
Lid Blown off Rubashkin Case 112 “Appearance Of Partiality” Suffi cient To Wipe Out Trial 227
Tefi llah Rallies Across the Country 115 Bail Motion Denied; Appeal Still Under Consideration 231
Behind the Scenes at Waterloo 117 Making the Appeal Count 233
88th Annual Agudah Dinner Highlights The Rubashkin Saga 120 When The Media Circus Came To Town 235
Perfi dy in Iowa Page 3
Anti-Immigration Bill Could Drive Farmers Out of Business 237 New Legal Front Opened 310
Postville: Iowa’s Dirty Secret 240 Shavuos Thought from Shalom Mordechai 312
Rubashkin Appeal Denied 243 Breathtaking Abuse of Power 313
Numbers Climbing On White House Petition 246 Chilling Chapter In The Rubashkin Saga 316
Rubashkin Brief Challenges 8th Circuit Denial of Appeal 248 Rubashkin Teleconference Rallies Thousands 319
Taking A Lesson From The Rubashkin Petition 250 Fresh Evidence Of Prosecutorial Misconduct 322
Rubashkin Petition For Full Court Hearing Denied 252 Excerpts from a Letter 324
Whom Are They Protecting? 254 Rubashkins: Buckling Isn’t An Option 326
UFCW Corruption Case And Sholom Rubashkin 258 Pre-Pesach Thoughts 328
Fast and Furious: Holder In The Crosshairs 262 Dramatic FOIA Disclosures Fuel New Rubashkin Brief 330
Lighting Up The Night 265 Treating Nisyonos Like Chukim 333
Women Add Powerful Voice For Rubashkin 267 Yom Tov Thoughts to his Family 334
Judge’s Appointment Re-opens Postville Wounds 270 A Visit With Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin 336
The Revolving Wheel Of Fate 273 Purim Thoughts 338
Sanzer Rov Visits Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin 275 Pesach Thoughts 340
Spector of Postville Haunts Judicial Nominee 277 Returning To My True Calling 342
Machshova Mo’eles: Thoughts Can Help Liberate 279 The Power of a Yiddishe Neshomah 344
Petition Focuses On Misconduct, Gross Sentence-Disparity 280 Rubashkin State Labor Case Expunged 346
Amicus Curiae Urge Supreme Court To Hear Rubashkin Case 282 Expungement Of Rubashkin Case Electrifi es Community 348
Achdus in Sefi ra 285 Rubashkin Bombshell Motion Unveils ‘Smoking Gun’ 349
How The System Failed Sholom Rubashkin 287 No Piece Left Behind 353
Thirsting For Kedusha 289 Justice Offi cials; Legal Luminaries Petition Government 355
AG Eric Holder Voted In Contempt 291 Rubashkin Support Grows As Government Fights On 359
Rubashkin Legal Team Braces For ‘Important’ Deadline 294 Amnesty-Immigration Scandal 362
Gov’t Brief Distorts The Record 295 Lessons For The Rubashkin Case 363
Reading Eichah and Kinnos in Cell Number 217 297 Government admits Misconduct 364
Rubashkin Brief Hammers Home the Injustice 298 The Case That Haunts 366
Look Only To Hashem 299 A Shofar In Solitude 368
Rubashkin Supporters Urge Supreme Court To Hear Case 300 The All-Embracing “Yes!” 371
Documentary Takes Deep Look At Prosecutorial Excess 302 New Brief Petitions 8th Circuit Court Of Appeals 372
Some Cases Refuse To Die 304 Motion To Recuse Exposes Confl icts Of Interest 375
Rubashkin Attorney Speaks Out About New FOIA Lawsuit 307 Free At Last 378
Page 4 Perfi dy in Iowa
Perfi dy in Iowa Page 5
December 03, 2004
Group Campaigns
Against Kosher Meat
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The militant vegetarian group People for the Ethical Treatment of necticut, at the behest of Chaim David Zwiebel, its executive vice
Animals, better known by its acronym, PETA, has embarked on a new president of government and public aff airs. By unanimous vote, Agu-
public relations campaign attacking AgriProcessors Inc., the Postville, dath Israel condemned what it termed a “vicious and unethical attack
Iowa-based one of the world’s largest kosher meat processors, and the on Jewish religious practice.” The resolution also noted that among
source for kosher meat products widely sold under the Rubashkin and the fi rst Nazi attacks against Jews was “peddling photographs of al-
Aaron’s Best labels. PETA accuses the company of violating both civil legedly ‘cruel’ kosher slaughter,” and that PETA “now follows in that
humane slaughter laws and Halacha. vile course.” The resolution also declared that the Torah’s concept of
PETA began by sending the meat processor a letter a year and a half humane treatment of animals is well ahead of the standards promoted
ago with unspecifi c complaints about the company’s operating proce- by secular organizations such as PETA.
dures. The company’s lawyer, Nathan Lewin, responded by off ering to “Shechitah often comes under attack by elements that are unsavory,
discuss and, if necessary, fi x any problem the group had. But Lewin and in general PETA is not an organization that commands our great
told Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, of JewishWorldReview.com, that PETA respect,” said Rabbi Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agudath Israel
never responded.
PETA FILES A COMPLAINT WITH THE USDA
Last week, Lewin, was contacted by the New York Times seeking
comment on an undercover videotape the paper received from PETA, On Monday, PETA took the next step in its campaign against
which it claimed documented abuses by the kosher meat manufactur- Agriprocessors, when it fi led a complaint with the US Department
er. Lewin viewed the tape at the New York Times’ Manhattan offi ces, of Agriculture. alleging that the plant is violating Jewish law by not
along with Rabbi Chaim Kohn, Chief Dayan of Khal Adath Yeshurun, instantly killing the animals, and is therefore also violating the 1902
which is one of the kashruth supervision agencies that provides the federal Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act. The complaint
Hashgocha on the meat plant. It was not clear when or if the Times sought suspension of the plant’s license and possible criminal proceed-
plans to publish a story based on the PETA accusations and tape. ings.
Lewin told Jolkovsky that the videotape, which was supposedly shot Steven Cohen, a spokesman for the USDA, confi rmed that the agen-
at the meat packing house in August and September of this year, con- cy had received the PETA letter but said it was waiting to review the
tains graphic and bloody pictures of the kosher slaughter process, in an video before deciding how to handle the complaint.
attempt to shock the viewer, but no violations of either civil law or the Rabbi Menachem Genack, head of the Orthodox Union’s OU
rules of shechita. Kashruth Division, which also provides supervision of kosher meat
Lewin, who is acknowledged to be the foremost legal experts in products from the same plant, said he had discussed the issue with
church-state issues, contends that “all PETA wants to do is infl ame the USDA offi cials, and is confi dent that government guidelines are being
public against kosher slaughter.” The group, he added, “just doesn’t un- followed to the federal agency’s satisfaction.
derstand shechita — what’s permitted under Jewish, and consequently, The company also issued a statement saying, “Agripro-cessors does
American Law.” not control anything that happens in the kosher ritual processes. We
Lewin also suggested that PETA could itself be subject to legal ac- adhere strictly to the instructions given to us by the rabbinic authorities
tion for its unwarranted eff orts to harass legitimate kosher meat opera- and will continue to do so. As we always have, we will also continue to
tions in this country. follow the strict guidelines set out by both federal and Jewish law for
PETA is known for its aggressive tactics in promoting its animal- the humane treatment of animals during the slaughter process.”
rights agenda. In one of its more tasteless campaigns, it ran advertise- Rabbi Genack even tried, unsuccessfully, to explain the OU- ap-
ments a few years ago with the phrase “Got prostate cancer?” show- proved and supervised shechita practices in use at the plant to Aaron
ing Rudolph Giuliani, the then-New York City mayor who had been Gross a Jewish student at Harvard University who is a militant vegetar-
recently diagnosed with the disease. The ads also included the line: ian group, and is PETA’s self-appointed expert on kosher requirements.
“Drinking milk contributes to prostate cancer.” Gross denied that the PETA campaign is motivated by anti-Semitism
and claimed that it does not object to shechita “when properly prac-
AGUDATH ISRAEL RESOLUTION CONDEMNS
ticed.”
ATTACK ON SHECHITA
Another PETA expert who criticized the OU-approved shechita pro-
PETA’s campaign against a prominent kosher meat manufacturer cedures at the Agriprocessors plant was Temple Grandin, an associate
prompted the passage of a special resolution at the closing session of professor of animal science at Colorado State University, with no reli-
the Agudath Israel of America’s annual convention in Stamford, Con- gious credentials at all.
Page 6 Perfi dy in Iowa
May 16, 2008
Kosher Meat-Packing Plant Raided;
Hundreds Arrested
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FFaammiilliieess were left in limbo, as husbands,
wwiivveess aanndd cchildren searched worriedly for ar-
rreesstteedd ffaammiilly members.
CCOOMMPPAANY COOPERATED WITH FEDS
RReegulations at AgriProcessors re-
qquuiirree all workers to show proof of
rreessiidence, valid social security num-
bbeerrs, and legal papers permitting
tthheemm to work in the United States,
aa ssppokesman for the company told
YYaatteed.
YYeet, the federal affi davit, while
aacckknnoowledging the plant’s regula-
ttiiiiioooonnss,, said the raid was authorized
AAss ppaarrtt ooff aafftteerr iinnformation was received that
aa nnaattiioonnwwiiddee mmaannyy oof AgriProcessors’ foreign
ccrraacckkddoowwnn oonn wwoorrkkeerrss wweere “illegals.”
iilllleeggaall iimmmmiiggrraannttss,, ffeeddeerraall TThhee sseeaarrcchh warrant cited suspicions of
aauutthhoorriittiieess iinn lleeaagguuee wwiitthh ““iiddeennttiiffyy tthheefftt aanndd fraudulent use of social se-
ssttaattee aanndd llooccaall llaaww eennffoorrcceemmeenntt ccuurriittyy nnuummbbeerrss,, aass wweellll aas reports of multiple viola-
mmoouunntteedd aa mmaassssiivvee rraaiidd tthhiiss MMoonnddaayy ttiioonnss ooff iimmmmiiggrraattiioonn llaawwss”” tthhaatt ccaammee ffrom an “informant” at the
oonn tthhee wwoorrlldd’’ss llaarrggeesstt kkoosshheerr mmeeaatt--ppaacckk-- ppllaanntt,, DDeess MMooiinneess RReeggiisstteerr ooff IIoowwaa rreeppoorted.
iinngg ppllaanntt,, AAggrriiPPrroocceessssoorrss,, iinn PPoossttvviillllee,, AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo tthhee ffeeddeerall search warrant, authorities relied heav-
IIoowwaa.. iillyy oonn tthhiis informant who infi ltrated the plant with documents pro-
HHHHHHuunnddrreeddss ooff ooffiffi cceerrss ffrroomm IImmmmiiggrattiion and vided by ICE. The informant was hired in January and wore se-
CCuussttoommss EEnnffoorrcceemmeenntt ((IICCEE), FBI and Homeland Se- cret recording devices monitored by ICE, the Des Moines Register
ccuurriittyy ooffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ccceerrs, together with state troopers and local police noted.
ddeesscended on the 60-acre plant Monday morning. The raid at Agri mimicked the dozens of raids carried out in
After cordoning it off on all sides, they conducted searches and recent months on fi rms who employ foreign labor, in a nationwide
interrogated hundreds of workers, arresting almost 400. federal eff ort to curb illegal immigration into the United States, an
The plant employs well over 1,000 people. In addition to shoch- AP article noted. It was the largest raid of its kind ever carried out
tim and mashgichim, hundreds of workers from Mexico, Guate- in U.S. history.
mala, Russia and Ukraine as well as many native Iowans, make a Company leaders cooperated fully with federal authorities, halt-
livelihood at AgriProcessors. ing operations and opening up the facilities for a thorough search.
In the raid, 314 men and 76 women-including any foreign work- By evening, the police had released dozens of people, either for
ers who could not immediately produce evidence of their legal sta- “humanitarian reasons” or because the detainees were able to pro-
tus -were arrested for immigration violations. duce valid documents. Hundreds remain in detention, under threat
Many were detained in local jails, while the majority were herd- of deportation.
ed into buses and driven to a makeshift detention center in the town
AMAZING GROWTH
of Waterloo, an hour and a half out of Postville.
In public schools throughout Postville, ICE offi cials halted class- Agriprocessors Inc. opened in Postville, Iowa, nearly 20 years
room proceedings to interrogate the students. “ ‘Who in this room ago, under Aaron Rubashkin, bringing with it a promise of jobs and
is legal?’” an offi cer would ask. “They separated all the kids with a stimulating a revival of the region’s economy. Rubashkin and his
Latino look, and took them to a room for interrogation,” a Postville two sons, R’ Shalom and R’ Heshy, built up the company over the
resident told Yated. past two decades, turning it into the world’s largest kosher meat-
Perfi dy in Iowa Page 7
packing plant. “Consider the price of one cow-about $1500,” a former employ-
A small community comprised of shochtim and mashgichim and ee of the meat plant, S. Gelb, pointed out. “AgriProcessors brings
their families grew up around the meat plant. Today they comprise in about 500 cows a week. That’s $750,000 each week being paid
a warm, close-knit community of a few hundred people, nurtured to various cattle farms in this region. That doesn’t even begin to
by a strong religious infrastructure consisting of yeshivahs, shul, address the vast amounts of funding that goes into transporting the
mikvah, chevrah kadisha, gemachs and other institutions, under the cows to the plant, and into carrying out all the functions of shechi-
patronage of the Rubashkin families. tah, cleaning, salting, packaging and shipping.
The company processes and packages kosher meat and poultry “All of this money is pumped back into the economy,” the em-
products that it supplies to grocery stores and meat markets across ployee noted.
the United States. It also processes non-kosher meat products. Since only about a half of each cow can be used for kosher beef,
According to Menachem Lubinsky, the editor of Kosher Today, the remainder of each animal is packaged and sold to non-Jewish
AgriProcessors provides 60 percent of the kosher retail meat and meat markets and meat chains, who depend on AgriProcessors as
40 percent of the kosher poultry nationally, and most retail chains their main supplier.
depend on it for supply. The company’s leaders are currently engaged in a $5 million
Shutting down production at the plant will have a signifi cant im- water treatment project that will reduce the salt content of the area’s
pact on the kosher meat sales, he said. “They are a major supplier water, aff ected by the kashering procedures at the meat plant.
to retail establishments all over the world.” These and other projects have created hundreds of jobs for
skilled workers and educated Iowa natives and explains why the
STRUGGLING TO BOUNCE BACK
raid on AgriProcessors sent shivers down the spines of so many in
Shutting down seems to be the farthest thing from company the community.
leaders’ minds. On Tuesday, the day following the raid, administra- In Postville and surrounding communities, “there is a lot of
tors and workers alike struggled to get the plant back in operation. fear,” Prof. Mark A. Grey, who focuses on immigration at the Uni-
“Chickens and cows had just been schechted when the police versity of Northern Iowa, told the New York Times.
arrived; for safety reasons everything had to come to a halt,” a “[A shutdown of the meat plant] would be absolutely devastating
spokesman for the plant said in a telephone interview with Yated. to the local economy,” Professor Grey said.
“You can’t just leave meat around. Every-
one with any kind of job here at all, including
secretaries and offi ce help, is pitching in. Even
yeshiva bochurim from the high school are
coming over to help between sedorim. Getting
things back in operation is a community-wide
concern.”
As company administrators struggled to get
the factory back on its feet, business leaders in
the wider community gave AgriProcessors a
vote of confi dence.
“We feel confi dent that they will regain their
footing and continue serving as the town’s larg-
est employer,” the Des Moines Register quoted
the president of the Postville Chamber of Com-
merce as saying.
The article stressed the importance the
townspeople attach to the continued function-
ing of the meat plant.
Drahos noted that “the town is in fairly good
shape economically… mainly because of the
thriving meatpacking plant.”
SHUTDOWN OR RELOCATION
WOULD “DEVASTATE THE ECONOMY”
Although Iowa’s governor, Kurt Culver, was
quoted in the media as urging the prosecution
not only of illegal aliens but their “employers”
who “help make it happen,” critics were quick
to point out the huge losses to the economy that
a shut-down or relocation would bring about.
From the considerable infusion of funds
coming from property taxes to a vast array of
industries promoted by AgriProcessors, includ-
ing construction, engineering, transportation,
iron works, excavation, truck manufacturing
and repair, [all of which employ Iowans, not
foreign labor], the town’s economy-and that of
neighboring cities-has been thoroughly revital-
ized.
Page 8 Perfi dy in Iowa
May 23, 2008
Immigration Raid Shakes
Small Town
AGRIPROCESSORS SAYS IT IS ADDRESSING CHALLENGES
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Antonio Escobedo ran to get his wife last Monday when he saw tion against [illegal employment] that we know is taking place?”
a helicopter circling overhead and immigration agents approaching she asked. “Or will just taking business records through a search
the meatpacking plant where they both work in Postville, Iowa. The warrant cause illegal aliens to leave, and then we’re not fulfi lling
couple hid for hours inside the plant before obtaining refuge in the that part of the mission, as well?”
pews and hall at a local church, where hundreds of other Guatema- Lobbyists and former offi cials say that in unleashing ICE, the
lan and Mexican families gathered, hoping to avoid arrest. administration is trying to “turn up the pain” to motivate businesses
“I like my job. I like my work. I like it here in Iowa,” said Esc- and Congress to support the comprehensive immigration changes
obedo, 38, an illegal immigrant from Yescas, Mexico, who has sought by President Bush, such as a temporary-worker program and
raised his three children for 11 years in Postville. “Are they mad earned legalization. If the existing legal tools are too blunt, they
because I’m working?” said, Congress should create a fairer system.
Last Monday’s raid on the Agriprocessors plant, in which 389 But the pressure on employers - whose wages and hiring prac-
immigrants were arrested and many held at a cattle exhibit hall, was tices have lured illegal workers to both large cities and small towns
the Bush administration’s largest crackdown on illegal workers at - has mostly been indirect and economic: While workplace arrests
a single site. It has upended the tree-lined community, which calls have risen tenfold since 2002, from 510 to 4,940, only 90 criminal
itself “Hometown to the World.” Half of the school system’s 600 arrests have involved company personnel offi cials.
students were absent Tuesday, including 90 percent of Hispanic So far, no offi cials at Agriprocessors have been charged. The com-
children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding. pany, founded by Aaron Rubashkin, has a storybook history whose
Current and former offi cials of the Department of Homeland Se- recent chapters have turned murky. After some of the Rubashkin
curity say its raid on the largest employer in northeast Iowa refl ects family moved to Postville from Brooklyn in 1987, the fi rm became
the administration’s decision to put pressure on companies with the nation’s largest processor of glatt kosher beef. It produces kosher
large numbers of illegal immigrant workers, particularly in the meat and non-kosher beef, veal, lamb, turkey and chicken products under
industry. But its disruptive impact on the nation’s largest supplier brands such as Iowa Best Beef, Aaron’s Best and Rubashkin’s.
of kosher beef and on the surrounding community has provoked According to an affi davit fi led by an ICE agent in conjunction
renewed criticism that the administration is disproportionately tar- with last week’s arrests, 76 percent of the 968 employees on the
geting workers instead of employers, and that the resulting turmoil company’s payroll over the last three months of 2007 used false
is worse than the underlying crimes. or suspect Social Security numbers. The affi davit cited unnamed
“They don’t go after employers. They don’t put CEOs in jail,” sources who alleged that some company supervisors employed
complained the Postville Community Schools superintendent, Da- 15-year-olds, helped cash checks for workers with fake documents,
vid Strudthoff , 51, who said the sudden incarceration of more than and pressured workers without documents to purchase vehicles and
10 percent of the town’s population of 2,300 “is like a natural disas- register them in other names.
ter - only this one is manmade.” In addition, the affi davit alleged that company supervisors ig-
He added, “In the end, it is the greater population that will suff er nored a report of a methamphetamine drug lab operating in the plant.
and the workforce that will be held accountable.” It also cited a case in which a supervisor blindfolded a Guatemalan
Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) said enforcement eff orts worker and allegedly struck him with a meat hook, without serious
against corporations that commit immigration violations have injury. The rav hamachshir, Rav Menachem Meir Weissmandl, has
“plummeted” under the Bush administration. “Until we enforce our fl atly denied these claims.
immigration laws equally against both employers and employees ICE may be “deporting 390 witnesses” to the labor investigation,
who break the law, we will continue to have a problem,” he said. Mark Lauritsen, international vice president of the United Food
Julie L. Myers, assistant homeland security secretary for Immi- and Commercial Workers union, said, adding, “This administration
gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said that to the contrary, seems to place a larger value on big, splashy shows in this immigra-
the agency has seldom been so aggressive, including opening crim- tion raid than in vigorously enforcing other labor laws.”
inal investigations of company offi cials. While cases have netted In November, Shalom Rubashkin, company vice president and
only a handful of sentences for low-level managers so far, Myers the founder’s son, wrote a letter to customers decrying “a slander-
said, such white-collar crime investigations typically take years to ous and patently false campaign” by the union, and defending the
develop. company’s record and its products as “safe and wholesome.” After
“Can we really execute a search warrant without taking any ac- last week’s raid, the family released brief statements expressing its
Perfi dy in Iowa Page 9
sympathies to workers, commitment to customers and cooperation were disrupted and wish them the best,” Abrahams said.
with authorities. The blitz, which occurred after a 16-month investigation, began
Agriprocessors said it continues to make meaningful progress in with helicopters, buses and vans encircling the western edge of
addressing the challenges presented by the worksite enforcement town at 10 a.m. Witnesses said hundreds of agents surrounded the
action. plant in 10 minutes, began interviewing workers and seized com-
According to Chaim Abrahams, a company representative, pany records.
Agriprocessors is concentrating its eff orts on production. By early afternoon, illegal immigrants began arriving by bus at
“We were able to bring the plant back into operation the next the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, Iowa, about 75
day, and even though we’re not running at full capacity, we are able miles from Postville. ICE held 313 male suspects at an exhibit hall
to resume production,” Abrahams said. “We are in the process of and 76 female suspects in local jails for administrative violations of
replacing workers so we can avoid any interruption of meeting cus- immigration law.
tomer needs for high quality products.” Those arrested include 290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, 2 Israe-
Abrahams also noted that the company was in the process of en- lis and 4 Ukrainians, according to the U.S. attorney’s offi ce for the
hancing its immigration compliance procedures. Northern District of Iowa.
“We are working with experts in immigration compliance to Eighteen were juveniles who have been released or turned over
help us bolster our compliance eff orts to employ only properly for refugee resettlement, and the prosecutor’s offi ce would not say
documented employees,” he said. “We have signed up for a gov- if there were underage workers at the plant. Of the adults, 306 face
ernment electronic verifi cation program, and are working with our criminal charges for aggravated identity theft and other crimes re-
consultants on additional compliance measures that will enhance lated to the use of false documents. A lawsuit fi led on behalf of
our hiring process.” Agriprocessors also has launched an indepen- the workers on Thursday, meanwhile, accused the government of
dent investigation into the circumstances which led to the worksite violating their constitutional rights through arbitrary and indefi nite
enforcement action, and is cooperating fully with the government. detention.
“We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families whose lives For now, Postville residents - immigrants and native-born - are
holding their breath. On Greene Street, where
the Hall Roberts’ Son Inc. feed store, Kosher
Community Grocery and Restaurante Rinc-
oncito Guatemalteco sit side by side, work-
ers fear a chain of empty apartments, falling
home prices and business downturns. The
main street, punctuated by a single blinking
traffi c signal, has been quiet; a Guatemalan
restaurant temporarily closed; and the store-
keeper next door reported a steady trickle of
families quietly booking fl ights to Central
America via Chicago.
“Postville will be a ghost town,” said Lili,
a Ukrainian store clerk who spoke on the
condition that her last name be withheld.
But Cesar Jochol, 48, a native of Patzun,
Guatemala, and owner of a market called
Tonita’s Express, questioned whether the raid
will be a deterrent. People who can aff ord to
eat meat only once or twice a week in Gua-
temala, while earning $4 a day, can earn $60
a day in Iowa, enough to eat beef or chicken
three times a day, he said. “You take away a
hundred people. A couple hundred more will
come tomorrow; they’ll just go to L.A., New
York, New Jersey and Miami,” said Jochol, a
21-year U.S. resident.
Eduardo Santos, 27, who came from Gua-
temala and lost two of his fi ngers working at
the factory, said the raid was “fair . . . but
it’s bad for everybody. There’s no work.” He
plans to go home.
“The problem is, who is going to do the
work?” said Stephen G. Bloom, a University
of Iowa journalism professor who wrote a
2000 book on the clash of cultures in Post-
ville as Agriprocessors’ Lubavitch Jewish
leaders gained infl uence in the mostly Lu-
theran town. “This is a no-win situation.”
The Washington Post contributed to this report.
Page 10 Perfi dy in Iowa