Davenport Diocese mobilizes to help Postville community after immigration raid

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By Deirdre Cox Baker | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 |

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Immigration Raid Update

John Kiley didn’t think emergency responders trained a few months ago to help after an immigration raid would get a workout quite as soon as they did.

But responders moved quickly after Monday’s raid by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, officers at the Agriprocessors, Inc. meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa.

It is the largest raid of this type in U.S. history, and the processing plant involved is the largest kosher facility in the world. There were 314 men and 76 women initially placed in ICE custody. Of those, 56 were released under ICE supervision for humanitarian reasons, typically because their arrest would leave a child with no custodian.

Kiley, social action director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, has networked with dioceses in Iowa to form a response to what he terms “a type of disaster.”

To date, the diocese has wired $1,000 to Postville to pay for food and supplies for a number of Hispanics who are being housed at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church. Kiley said more funds may be added to that amount as people take refuge in the church because they fear returning to their homes.

Options for bedding and other supplies are being explored, and there is a need for more interpreters, Kiley said. “This is a legal, family and community issue,” he said. “People are dislocated from their homes and frightened.”

Members of Iowa’s Catholic community point to the raid as an example of the need for comprehensive immigration reform. “Some of the weakest members among us are bearing the brunt of the suffering, while legislators and other leaders, as well as many of us in the general public, have failed to give this issue the priority it deserves,” said Archbishop Jerome Hanus, head of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.

Ten men and 10 women were arrested on criminal charges after the raid, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa. The men appeared in court late Tuesday afternoon, and the women are to appear this morning.

Charges vary by individual and include felony allegations of aggravated identity theft and false use of Social Security numbers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.

Interpreters are needed for the legal process, said Gil Sierra, a state director for League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, and a former Davenport alderman.

There is currently no system to have interpreters cleared to work with attorneys involved. Kiley suggests bilingual persons interested in helping call the diocese at (536) 324-1911, and ask for the social action office.

Catholic activists will continue to coordinate their response the rest of the week, Kiley said. Postville is in the Archdiocese of Dubuque, but the Davenport diocese has offered back-up volunteers.

“I’m Irish,” Kiley said. “I’m only 130 years removed from when I was considered a problem immigrant in America.”

Deirdre Cox Baker can be contacted at (563) 383-2492 or dbaker@qctimes.com.