Bus Trip to Postville Protest Yields Surprises
Twin Cities Daily Planet, News Report, Julia Opoti, Posted: Jul 29, 2008
Originally from Kenya, Julia Opoti lives in St. Paul and does free lance reporting.
MINNEAPOLIS – This past weekend, I took a bus ride to Postville, Iowa with members of the Jewish Community Action and other representatives of the Twin Cities Jewish community. We were on a trip from Minneapolis to Postville, Iowa to protest a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on AgriProcessors, a kosher meatpacking plant, and the draconian work conditions at the plant.
Two months ago, immigration officials arrested and charged 270 men and women with aggravated identity theft, improper use of Social Security numbers, and use of false identification cards. The raid has left the small town of 2200 deserted and desolate.
The ride from Minneapolis to Postville, Iowa was like a history refresher course led by Peter Rachleff, a history professor from Macalster College. Rachleff compared the bus rides to the Freedom Bus rides during the Civil Rights Movement, when black and white Americans rode across the states in solidarity to speak out against segregation and racism.
Folks in the bus then engaged in conversations telling “their story,” how they or their ancestors immigrated to the U.S. Most people on the bus, it seemed, were second or third generation Americans whose parents had come to the U.S. for better economic opportunities or to flee political persecution.
“Nativism, fueled by economics and labor situations at different times in history, was and continues to be the biggest driver against immigration,” observed Gideon, one of the bus riders.
Rachleff talked about the history of illegal Jewish immigration into the U.S.: in the 1920s the US government passed immigration laws that created nation-based quotas, to slow Eastern and Southern European immigration and to eliminate Asian migration. As a result, thousands of undocumented Jews came into the US.
Rabbi Harold Kravitz, from Minnetonka, spoke passionately about Kashrut and ethics. He argued that dietary laws are important in defining ethics. It is not just that Jews eat meat from an animal that has been cut the right way, but that by slaughtering the animal humanely, Jews are displaying a reverence for life.
My knowledge of the Jewish culture is very limited, so it was interesting to hear in great discussion the dietary laws. Hekhsher Tzedek is a new initiative “to improve the working conditions, treatment of employees, environmental standards, and business practices in kosher food producing businesses.”
With a few minutes left to get to Postville, someone with on the bus shared an anecdote: “When plant workers wanted to form a union, some of them received physical threats, when he had his garage set on fire.”
Perhaps it was this story, perhaps it was the massive numbers that began to descend on Postville as we did, but the group from Minneapolis was soon filled with an energy that continued for the next couple of hours as they walked and chanted around Postville.
The JCA group from Minneapolis was part of a group of 12000 protesters who descended on Postville on Sunday calling for comprehensive immigration reform and the enforcement of workers rights. The rally, attended by Jewish and Catholic religious leaders, called on legislators to give legal status to undocumented workers.
A counter-protest group of about 150, organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, rallied for the immediate deportation of illegal immigrants. Chanting “Illegals go Home” and “American Jobs for Americans,” they waved placards that read, “Ask Me Why You Will Go To Hell” and “Stop the Illegal Immigration.”
Related Articles:
The Children of Iowa ICE Raids
An Interpreter's Crisis of Conscience in Iowa
The Young Victims of Iowa ICE Raids
Raw Nerves Remain After New ICE Arrest in Iowa
After Iowa Raid, Families in Limbo
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User Comments
nativessayno on Aug 01, 2008 at 15:58:27 said:
The historical background; while facinating on the MS-13's is not going to help children at Nezzie's community schools by your lecture, MdeG. They are still real, real, bad people!
Also, real slavery with lynchings, murder, degradation, stultification, humiliation, etc; and 20th-Century Western European Jew's diaspora, genocide, and mortal perils-IS NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN POSTVILLE IOWA TODAY!!!!! Please you do not know what you are talking about. Even a little!
Get real, citing the bible to attempt to link this is dinged. They are illegal immimigrants. We are: nativists? What's wrong with that!?
dictionary definition:
1. A sociopolitical policy, especially in the United States in the 19th century, favoring the interests of established inhabitants over those of immigrants.
2. The reestablishment or perpetuation of native cultural traits, especially in opposition to acculturation.
3. Philosophy The doctrine that the mind produces ideas that are not derived from external sources.
Call us nativists and we back-down and hand over the goods???? I don't thinks so!
An true comparison for Postville's procedure's and Mexico's own immigration protocol and procedures. They are serious about illegal immigration and if someone balked I'm sure they would get far worse treatment. The Federales are their own MS-13 in some ways!
But we are the ogre's in every "undocumented" story everytime. Your bible told you so, right?
Pat Hurst on Aug 01, 2008 at 10:08:17 said:
The nations from which these "immigrants' illegally come..have a long tradition of Anti-Semitism. Mexico was an ally of Germany in the First World War and a Silent Ally of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.They harbored Nazi spies during the war..we almost went to war with them over German Issues. Pauaguay issued over a million blank passports that were taken into Germany as the Third Reich fell..
That is the thing about people with a mind set to hate White Christians..good is never enough. So enjoy the Immigrants you congradulate for breaking USA laws..your ancestors may have had dealings with their ancestors.
Be careful of what you wish for...because you are sure to get it.
magyart on Aug 01, 2008 at 09:26:46 said:
I support the ICE raid at Pottsville. I suspect the plant was taking advantage of it's employees. I hope it is fully investigated and any lawbreakers are given serious jail time.
However, the workers also violated American laws. They not only illegally came into our country (invaded), they stole the identities of hard working Americans, to secure unlawful employment.
The illegal aliens also deserve punishment. Please send them home asap.
MdeG on Jul 30, 2008 at 12:20:10 said:
Nezzie, Nathan, Have you read the article? Have you read Camayd-Freixas' article?
Likening the arrival of undocumented workers to an "invasion" is not realistic. They're not here w/ military purposes. Most of the folks I know are just desperate to learn English. The trouble is that there is a waiting list hundreds of people long in our rather small city, and not enough people willing to teach.
Camayd explained -- convincingly -- that the people at fault for ID theft were mostly the bosses. The workers in many cases didn't even know what an SSN was, or that it was different from a green card.
MS13 is an LA gang, Nezzie. Founded there, deported to Central America, internationalized by ICE itself. If you doubt me, look it up on the FBI web page.
As for slavery and Ellis Island. My folks were all undocumented. They arrived long before Ellis Is. opened (1892) and even longer before immigrants needed visas (1924).
Yes, there's a lot here that is in common with slavery. People are treated almost as badly, families are broken up, and the bosses don't even make themselves responsible for providing food and shelter. Though in the case of Postville, they did indeed take care of the ID.
While today's undocumented migrants are not forcibly brought here, many of them are coming away from the aftermath of US-promoted wars (Central America), "free" trade (Mexico and elsewhere), drug wars fueled by the US market. They're shaken loose from the places they'd rather be, and up here being abused and exploited. Blaming the most powerless is not a morally acceptable response to this situation.
Go read Hebrews 13:2.
Nezzie on Jul 30, 2008 at 10:20:14 said:
I sincerely hope that all American's are reading and taking a look around them, invasions can be scary. They are stalking our children, scaring them with the infiltration of the MS13 gangs in their schools, practicing hit and run (even when they have a license, because they are still criminals who came across our border illegally and need to be caught and sent to Mexico. Closing down our hospitals, expect us to speak spanish instead of them learning
English. They want us also to forgive them for their indiscretions. This is America, and our legislators, Ben Cardin, Barbara Mikulski, Jos Biden, Martin O'Malley and Jack Johnson, are all traitors to their constitutents and to our country. Our legislators for some reason feel they owe allegiance to illegal immigrants instead of the people that hired them. They also need to remove all of the anchor babies they have dropped in our country. The mis-interpretation of the 14th amendment is disgusting! GOD Bless America, please join helpsavemMaryland.com!
Nathan Yahoo on Jul 29, 2008 at 14:11:18 said:
This business is no different from the slave owners of 150 years ago. Comparing the people who come here illegally, steal identification, and help themselves to our social services to the people who arrived legally at Ellis Island is outrageous. Fortunately, the American people disagree with these liberal fools, and the tide is finally turning to common sense enforcement.
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