Immigrants File Lawsuit after Workplace Raid
by: Gerri L. Elder
A class action lawsuit filed by lawyers for immigrant workers who were arrested in a workplace immigration raid in Postville, Iowa has been settled. The 83 illegal immigrants who were detained in the raid on a meat packing plant but not criminally charged will be allowed to remain in Iowa, at least for now. The agreement between federal immigration authorities and lawyers for the immigrants reached an agreement that will keep the workers in the state until their administrative bond hearings are held, which could take six months or more.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three immigrant workers who were detained in the raid but not charged with crimes and later released. It alleged that federal immigration authorities violated the immigrant workers' rights to due process under the Fifth Amendment by subjecting them to prolonged and indefinite detention and hindering their access to lawyers.
The lawyers for the immigrant workers told Associated Press reporters that one of their goals in the lawsuit was to keep the immigrants from being sent to other states and assigned new lawyers in the case because if that happened the fear was that they would be denied the right to a vigorous defense. Protection of the immigrants' due process rights was of the utmost importance and the deal with federal immigration authorities seems to have accomplished that.
When the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville, Iowa was recently raided, 389 workers were detained. The immigration raid is thought to be the largest single-site federal immigration raid in United States history. Of the 389 immigrant workers that were detained, 306 were charged with crimes such as identity theft, misuse of a Social Security number or fraud. The immigrants who were charged with crimes will also remain in Iowa where they will go on trial for the alleged crimes. The 83 workers who were detained but not charged with crimes include 62 workers who were kept under supervision but released on humanitarian grounds.
Hearings for all of the immigrant workers will be held in the U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Recently in immigration news, there has been much talk of enforcing laws prohibiting employers from employing illegal immigrants. Enforcement of these laws would mean stiff penalties and possible criminal prosecution of employers who allow illegal immigrants to work in the United States. However, it seems that the talk of enforcement has been just that - talk - with little action actually being taken.
In the case of the meat packing plant immigration raid in Iowa, so far Agriprocessors Inc. has not yet faced any penalties for employing illegal immigrants. The managers and owners of the plant have not been detained and charges have not been filed against them. So far, only the immigrants have been penalized and punished for breaking the law, which seems to be business as usual in immigration raids.