The effects of immigration raids on communities

I saw this clip on RaceWire and I think it is so important - not just to publicize the voices of the communities and individuals most affected by immigration raids and border patrol, but also to contextualize and humanize undocumented workers who are so often, as this kid says, criminalized.

This clip is in response to the May 12 Postville (Iowa) raid - the largest single workplace raid in US history at that point. ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) detained 389 workers - 20% of the town's population. This action was followed by a huge raid in Laurel, MI where 595 workers were arrested in and another in Greenville, SC where 300 were arrested.



In this summer's issue of Colorlines, Daisy Hernández reports about the mothers arrested in this raid who are now raising their families under house arrest.

Moms Under House Arrest By Daisy Hernández

Most of the women, like Irma, have lost their husbands. Arrested, the men have been already deported or are being detained by immigration officials in prisons in Iowa and increasingly out of state. Irma is a mother. She used to do the things any mom would do—that is a mom who worked with her husband at a meatpacking plant in a small Iowa town: she would make their paychecks stretch so she could send money to Guatemala and also take her two boys, ages 9 and 11, to Chuck E. Cheese on weekends. But those days have ended. Irma is now one of 40 mothers in Postville, Iowa, raising their families under house arrest. The women were arrested in May, during the largest workplace raid at a single site in United States history. Most of them, like Irma, have lost their husbands. Arrested, the men have been already deported or are being detained by immigration officials in prisons in Iowa and increasingly out of state. Three fathers, who were arrested during the raid, were also released under the same condition as the mothers—that they stay in Iowa wearing an electronic ankle bracelet that allows immigration officials to monitor their movements. At first, it was hard to get used to the electronic bracelets, says Irma, whose full name is Irma Yolanda Hernandez Perez. She couldn’t wear it on her right ankle because of problems with her veins and she had to put a handkerchief between the device and her skin to avoid getting abrasions on her ankle. “You feel bad,” she said. “It’s heavy. You’re not used it.” The sigh is audible in her voice as she adds, “You get used to it.” Nearly 400 people were arrested during the May raid at AgriProcessors, the country's largest kosher meatpacking plant. The people were mostly Guatemalan and Mexican and many were parents. Luz María Rámirez, a spokeswoman at St. Bridget's Catholic Church, which is helping parents like Irma, says that the 43 parents under house have a total of 90 children among them and about 30 of these kids are U.S.-born. “They’re getting more rebellious,” says Irma about the children. “They ask about their fathers. They feel it.” She has tried to be as honest as she can with them, while not revealing her deeper worries about the family’s future. Her own husband is being detained in Louisiana and calls her collect. The women are now single moms. Like Irma, many do not have families in the U.S. and so they are now gathering at St. Bridget's Catholic Church every day. They live on the contributions that people are making and on the food pantry that’s nearby. They also have a support group with counselors from Des Moines. “Many of them are not eating or sleeping,” says Rámirez about the moms. Irma heard about raids in other small towns and cities. “I never imagined that the same would happen here,” she said. Irma migrated from Guatemala four years ago, making the journey with her husband and her two boys. She had worked in agriculture but it was impossible to feed her family and also pay the debts the family had accrued. She and her husband got jobs at AgriProcessors packing sausages, ham and cooked meats. The plant itself is notorious for its poor working conditions. Wages allegedly start at $6.25 an hour. Bathrooms are said to be limited. In March, the company was fined $182,000 for 39 state health, safety and labor violations. “It was the worst plant in the United States,” said Father Paul Ouderkirk of St. Bridget's Catholic Church, who toured the plant twice in the 10 years since he’s been in Postville, Iowa. On the day of the raid, Irma’s children were in school. She was arrested at 10 in the morning and spent the day worrying about her boys. A friend, however, had picked them up at the school and taken them to the church. Teachers had also taken students to the church. Irma was released by six that evening and reunited with her children. Today, the parents are in immigration limbo, waiting for immigration officials to make contact with them and hoping their pro bono lawyers will be able to reunite them with their spouses and allow them to stay. The immediate worry though is about food and shelter. Without assistance from the church and the donations made there, Irma said, she doesn’t know what would have happened to her and her two boys. But, she asked, “When the funds are gone, what’s going to happen to us?”