ICE raid in Postville, Iowa (No One Is Illegal Radio, August 2008)

On the AUGUST 2008 edition of the show:

FORTRESS EUROPE AT CEUTA (SPAIN)
interview with David Moffette of No One Is Illegal-Quebec City

Ceuta, along with Melilla, is a Spanish enclave in North Africa; it's technically part of Spain, but is geographically located in Morocco. It's been called a "European gated community" in Africa. In recent years, as part of the implementation of Fortress Europe, a border fence has gone up in Ceuta and Melilla, in addition to other interdiction efforts. These repressive measures have not stopped migrants from trying to enter into the EU, but rather has forced them to make even more dangerous and longer journies, getting onto boats further south, in Senegal and Mauritania, trying to reach the Canary Islands. Spain, with the collaboration of Morocco, re-inforced the border fence in Ceuta and Melilla in 2005. In 2006, according to the Red Cross, at least 3000 migrants drowned trying to make the more precarious journey to Europe from Mauritania further south, a direct result of the border fence at Ceuta and Melilla. On this month's edition of No One Is Illegal Radio, we get a frontline report from Ceuta from David Moffette, a member of No One Is Illegal-Quebec City. For the past two months, David has been in Ceuta where he's investigating immigration discourses and the treatment of migrants in Ceuta who try to get into the EU. (Notes: Interviews by David with migrants camped out in Ceuta will be featured on a future edition of NOII Radio; interview begins with the track "Fortress Europe" by Asian Dub Foundation and ends with "Desobeissance civile" by Keny Arkana.)


ICE RAID IN POSTVILLE, IOWA
interviews with members of the Wild Rose Rebellion Network (Iowa City)

This past May 12, 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. Close to 400 migrants, mainly men and women from Guatemala, were detained in what is considered the largest such raid in American history. In the initial days after the raid, the migrants were detained and processed at a cattle fairgrounds. Many were charged criminally, in addition to dealing with deportation proceedings. Several people have not been accounted for, while the very few migrants who have been released, to be with their small children, are required to wear GPS tracking devices. On the August edition of No One Is Illegal Radio, we hear from Ryan Spurgetis and Warren Conatser-Echevarria, based in Iowa City, and part of the Wild Rose Rebellion Anarchist Network. Both Ryan and Warren were involved in support efforts after the Postville raid.


--> LISTEN to the AUGUST 2008 edition of No One Is Illegal Radio here:
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/28925

Inquiry Finds Under-Age Workers at Meat Plant

State labor investigators have identified 57 under-age workers who were employed at a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, and have asked the attorney general to bring criminal charges against the company for child labor violations, Dave Neil, the Iowa Labor Commissioner, said on Tuesday.

“The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa’s child labor laws,” Mr. Neil said in a statement announcing the results of a seven-month investigation at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meat plant.

In a raid in May, 389 illegal immigrant workers were detained there in the largest immigration enforcement operation ever at a single workplace.

Mr. Neil said that investigators had found multiple child labor law violations for each under-age worker at the plant. They included employing minors in prohibited occupations, exposing them to hazardous chemicals, and making them work with prohibited tools like knives and saws, he said.

In a statement, Agriprocessors said it was “at a loss to understand” the investigation results. The company said it had cooperated with the inquiry, providing documents and opening the plant to inspectors. Last year, Agriprocessors fired four workers who were under age but had provided false documents as evidence they were old enough to work, the statement said.

Kerry Koonce, a spokeswoman for Iowa Workforce Development, the state labor department, said the number of under-age workers was by far the largest in an Iowa child labor case.

If convicted on criminal charges, the company could face fines of $500,000 to $1 million, Ms. Koonce said.

On Friday, labor officials turned over a confidential report on the investigation to the Iowa attorney general, Tom Miller, who will now decide whether to bring charges. Mr. Neil said he had urged Mr. Miller to prosecute “to the full extent of the law,” making it very likely that charges would be brought.

A spokesman for Mr. Miller, Eric J. Tabor, said that prosecutors were examining the evidence but that no decision had been made.

Agriprocessors said that it had been informed by Iowa labor officials in April that under-age workers were employed at the plant, but that the officials had declined to identify the minors.

“As a result of the government’s decision, apparently those children may have continued to work at the plant and presumably at least some were arrested” in the May 12 raid, said the company’s statement, issued by Menachem Lubinksy, an Agriprocessors spokesman.

Because of the dangers of meatpacking, it is generally illegal under Iowa law for a company to employ a worker under 18 in the slaughter and packing areas of a meat or poultry plant.

Child labor violations are criminal misdemeanors in Iowa, carrying fines of no more than about $600. But Ms. Koonce said each violation was a separate offense each day that it occurred. Many of the minors worked at Agriprocessors for at least a year, she said.

At least 24 under-age workers, as young as 13, were arrested in the raid in May. Others who were not caught in the morning raid because they worked at night stopped going to jobs at the plant.

Hundreds of workers, mostly illegal immigrants from Guatemala, were prosecuted on criminal document fraud charges after the raid. Immigration authorities dismissed criminal charges against the minors, although many were put in civil deportation proceedings.

After the raid, many of the young workers said they felt they had nothing to lose in speaking out about their work at the plant. In interviews, they said they were forced to work long hours on night shifts, sometimes up to 17 hours a day, and were not paid all of their overtime. They said they were put to work on racing production lines using knives to cut meat and poultry with little or no safety training.

Elmer L., a Guatemalan who said he was 16 when he started work at the plant, said he was kicked by an Agriprocessors supervisor, causing one of his knives to cut his elbow. He asked that his last name not be used because he is a minor.

Most of the under-age workers said they were illegal immigrants who presented fraudulent Social Security cards or immigration visas stating they were at least 18 when they hired on at Agriprocessors.

But Iowa law requires employers to make an extra effort to determine the date of birth of workers who could be minors, including asking for a birth certificate or other official proof of age, labor officials said.

In recent months, Iowa labor officials have been criticized by unions and immigrant groups who said that enforcement was lax at Agriprocessors and that labor inspectors had responded to violations with light fines.

Some under-age workers could benefit if the attorney general presses charges against Agriprocessors. Sonia Parras Konrad, an Iowa immigration lawyer, has been working with investigators to get more than two dozen of the workers special four-year visas, known as U-visas, which are given to victims who cooperate with criminal investigations.

A federal labor investigation is also under way.

The number of minors makes the Iowa investigation “a huge case” by national standards as well, said Reid Maki, coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, a group of teachers and consumer organizations that seek to stop employment of under-age workers. “It is especially troubling since this industry is as dangerous as it gets,” Mr. Maki said.

Postville Rally/March

So I guess there was around 2,000 people at the rally. People came from Madison, Chicago, and Minnesota, among other places. People from the Jewish Council On Urban Affairs, Socialist Worker's Party, SEIU, Socialist Party and numerous other groups were there. More than anything though, there were people wearing FMLN shirts ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMLN) . We started in a church, where there was a service in english, spanish and hebrew, then moved into the streets and marched around the town. What seemed like hundreds of little children were banging drums, waving Mexican and Guatemalan flags and singing and yelling in spanish. There were statements read in front of Agriprocessors and we went past the fuckwad counterprotesters, who were waving signs like "What Would Jesus Do? Obey The Law!" C'mon now. The piggies seemed pretty sympathetic to the Minutemen-types and very worried about us, even though we weren't the ones looking all hostile and angry like the jingoistic morons across the streets. There was a short argument between some of us and the police over dispersal orders, which was diffused quickly. Overall, the best march I've been to. People were in good spirits and seeing groups of Latino kids taunting the Minutemen types was worth the trip alone.

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