postville

The Postville, Iowa Agriprocessors immigration raid

In May 2008, [[Immigration and Customs Enforcement]] raided the Agriprocessors kosher meat factory in Postville, Iowa. As with other raids, much gnashing of teeth from the left and/or those who support illegal activity for financial reasons ensued.

However, this time it was a bit muted due to the fact that the owners of the plant - the Rubashkins - don't exactly appear that sympathetic. For instance, they were subsequently charged with 9000 child labor law violations.

Even the most crooked far-leftie is going to have trouble defending that, but that hasn't stopped a few from trying. Note that the only way to have prevented the abuses at Agriprocessors would have been to enforce our laws - labor and immigration - across the board. Anything less would have allowed those abuses to continue. Thus, those who decry those abuses while at the same time not supporting enforcement of our immigration laws are either corrupt or stupid, or both.

Last modified Dec 11, 2008
Discussed in (click each link for the full post):

Trump sends wrong message about immigration raids, commutes Rubashkin's sentence (Agriprocessors, Postville) - 12/21/17

From this: President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the prison sentence of former Iowa slaughterhouse executive Sholom Rubashkin, who was sentenced to 27 years for bank fraud and money laundering, the White House said.

Agriprocessors manager admits to harboring illegal aliens (Postville, Rubashkins, Iowa) - 08/30/13

From this: A former Iowa slaughterhouse manager has admitted to conspiring to harbor and recruit immigrants who entered the country illegally and then fleeing to Israel after the plant was raided in 2008, according to a plea agreement filed Thursday.

U.S. bows to United Nations Human Rights Council, ACLU helps (Arizona, SB1070) - 11/05/10

In Geneva today the United Nations Human Rights Council met to assess the U.S.'s record on human rights, or at least human rights as they see them. And, as previously discussed, the report from the U.S. government mentions Arizona's recent SB1070 immigration law. While I downplayed the significance of this in the earlier post, perhaps I should raise the alert level given that one of the groups involved in complaining to the U.N. about the U.S. is the American Civil Liberties Union; more on them below. From this: The United States is submitting its human rights record to the scrutiny of other...

Seth Doane /CBS weeps for town built on illegal activity (Postville) - 06/14/09

Seth Doane of CBS News is just the latest "reporter" to go to Postville, Iowa and report on the immigration raid that occurred there over a year ago.

Tim Belay/VOA News presents illegal immigration-supporting side of Postville story - 05/18/09

Tim Belay of the federally-funded Voice of America - offers "Postville Marks Immigration Raid Anniversary with Reflection, Optimism" (link).

Postville commemorates immigration raid one year later, pines for child labor violations, massive illegal activity - 05/12/09

The immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa happened one year ago today, and far-left and just generally corrupt supporters of illegal immigration are commemorating the anniversary, with the media standing by to offer their lopsided take (link): Church bells tolled for an hour here this morning to mark a year since federal agents launched one of the biggest immigration raids in U.S. history. The bell at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church rang 389 times, once for each immigrant worker seized in the raid. The ringing started at 10 a.m., which was when the raid began last May 12. Bells...

ACLU controlling Obama policy? ("Transition Recommendations" wants most immigration enforcement halted, + much more) - 03/17/09

In November, the American Civil Liberties Union released "Actions For Restoring America: Transition Recommendations for President‐Elect Barack Obama" (aclu.org/transition) listing things they wanted him to do the first day, within the first 100 days, and within the first year. Several of their proposals would halt immigration enforcement to a great extent, pending "review".

Betsy Rubiner/ Time promotes illegal immigration for Postville (Agriprocessors) - 01/28/09

Betsy Rubiner of Time Magazine offers "Iowa: What Happens When a Town Implodes" (link) about the aftermath of the Postville immigration raid; see the last link first if you aren't familiar with that issue. The article attempts to emotionalize the issue and encourage support for illegal immigration; consider how it ends: Many townspeople hope a responsible buyer will revive the plant. "We'd like to see somebody who buys it and makes it an honest business," says [Darcy Radloff, the city clerk]. However, everything before that point supported it being run as a dishonest business. Postville was a...

Pork for Postville: Tom Harkin helped Agriprocessors stay in business - 12/29/08

Four years ago, senator Tom Harkin - Democrat of Iowa - helped get an exemption for the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, without which they might have gone out of business. This year, that company was the subject of a major immigration raid and has subsequently been charged with over 9000 child labor law violations. And, it's not like that was much of a surprise to those in the area. The money, nearly $8 million, came from an environmental program from which Agriprocessors normally would have been disqualified. The grant and loan were used to build a sewage-treatment plant that serves only...

Postville: Feds go after Rubashkin trademarks, other property - 12/11/08

Sad, sad news for those who want to profit from illegal activity: Federal authorities have upped the ante for Agriprocessors and four former members of plant management. Not only will the parties face the penalties originally outlined in a Nov. 21 indictment, but they may have to forfeit a host of items that have been defined as proceeds of criminal activity. The modified indictment, which was filed today in federal court in Cedar Rapids, specifies that the Agriprocessors, Inc. corporate name, trademarks and corporate stock are subject to forfeiture. The trademarks would include such well-...

Youtube/Pulitzer makes worthless illegal immigration supporting video finalist - 11/19/08

For the backstory, see Shock: Youtube/Pulitzer contest has pro-illegal immigration puff piece as finalist. That same worthless, illegal immigration-supporting video (link) is now one of the five finalists in the Pulitzer competition and is #20 on Youtube's Featured list. Either because of that or because of creative counting, its views have jumped from around 700 a couple days ago to over 60,000 currently.

Agriprocessors CEO arrested on bank fraud charges - 11/14/08

Earlier this year, ICE conducted a raid of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa; see this recent post for links about it.

Shock: Youtube/Pulitzer contest has pro-illegal immigration puff piece as finalist - 11/13/08

Agriprocessors charged with over 9000 child labor law violations - 09/09/08

From this: The Iowa attorney general's office filed child labor charges Tuesday against the owner and managers of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, the site of one of the nation's largest workplace immigration raids. The complaint alleges more than 9,000 violations of Iowa's child labor law at the plant in Postville, saying the violations involved 32 children under age 18, including seven who we

Agriprocessors supervisor pleads guilty - 08/21/08

In May, the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa was raided by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Now, from this: A former supervisor at Agriprocessors, the Postville meatpacking plant that was the location of the nation’s largest single-site immigration raid, accepted a deal and pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday afternoon. Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 35, has been convicted of one count of conspiracy to hire illegal aliens and one count of aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal aliens. A date for sentencing has not yet been set. Court documents filed Aug. 19 indicate...

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) calls DHS agents "Gestapo agents" (Gebe Martinez/Politico) - 08/07/08

Alleged U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez - Democrat from Illinois - is quoted in the article "Push needed for immigration reform" (politico . com/news/stories/0808/12321.html) by ethnocentric hack reporter Gebe Martinez as saying:

Luis Gutierrez demagogues Agriprocessors raid, accuses DOJ of lying (Joe Baca, Albio Sires, Jens Manuel Krogstad) - 07/27/08

Jens Manuel Krogstad of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier offers the inaccurate "Hispanic congressmen gather information in Postville" (link), informing us that Reps. Luis Gutierrez, Joe Baca, and Albio Sires visited that city for a meeting at St.

1000 protest in Postville in support of immigration-related abuses; a Rubashkin blames enemies - 07/27/08

From this: About a thousand protesters descended on a small town in northeastern Iowa [Postville] on Sunday, decrying the raid of a meatpacking plant [Agriprocessors] that arrested nearly 400 residents and calling for a change in federal immigration policies... Sunday's protesters a

New York Times supports illegal activity, identity theft - 07/13/08

The New York Times editorial board continues to hit new lows, this time offering "The Shame of Postville, Iowa" (nytimes . com/2008/07/13/opinion/13sun2.html) about the May immigration raid at Agriprocessors meat packing plant in that town.

Federal, state investigations of Agriprocessors (maybe the left will stop playing games) - 07/11/08

Neither Alternet nor New America Media are reputable sources, but, for what it's worth, Wendy Feliz Sefsaf of NAM offers "Meat-Packing Giant Raided by ICE Faces Criminal Investigation" (alternet.org/immigration/91182). Discussing the Agriprocessors raid from May, she says: No fewer than seven federal and state agencies are coordinating on investigations of Agriprocessors. The Iowa Division of Labor Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Equal Employment and Opportunities Commission (EEOC), the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),...

IowaPolitics.com stages pro-illegal immigration forum (LULAC, Beth Wessel-Kroeschell) - 06/05/08

IowaPolitics.com staged an immigration forum earlier today, and these were the five panelists (link): 1. Brent Wilkes of the League of United Latin American Citizens 2. Iowa State Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames 3. James Benzoni, Des Moines immigration lawyer and Drake University professor 4. David Roederer, executive director of the Iowa Chamber Alliance 5.

Betsy Rubiner/Time offers pro-illegal immigration propaganda (Agriprocessors, Iowa) - 05/29/08

Betsy Rubiner of Time Magazine [1] offers a slab of pro-illegal immigration propaganda called "After Immigrant Raid, Iowans Ask Why" (link). The raid in question occured at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville earlier this month, and her article could have been written by that company or anyone else who supports profiting from illegal immigration. The only mention of those who support our laws is in a highly negative light. The reader who thinks she's in any way a credible source of information should research the raid using the last link, then compare it to her article. It starts with this...

Agriprocessors meat packing raid, Postville, Iowa (kosher, UFCW) - 05/12/08

Somewhere from a few hundred to 700 or more persons were arrested in Postville, Iowa earlier today as part of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid of the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in the town. That plant produces kosher meat and is owned by the Rubashkin family, Hasidic Jews from New York; this page has more details on the culture clash after the bought the plant and seem to have gained a great deal of power in the town.