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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Hardship in Postville "Equals that of a Tornado"

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Friday, December 5, 2008   

Postville, IA – Many in northeast Iowa are calling the aftermath of May's Agriprocessors Kosher meatpacking plant raid by federal immigration agents a crisis, reaching far beyond the workers targeted in the raid. Some immigrant advocates complain the response to the raid in Postville would have been more rapid had it been a natural disaster, and the state response should have been just as urgent.

On Thursday, seven months after the raid, Lt. Gov. Patty Judge attended a town meeting and announced the release of nearly $700,000 in community development block grants. The money will provide assistance for rent and utilities to families affected by the plant's closing.

But, Carol Kress, pastor of the First United Methodist Church in nearby Decorah, says the response by the state has been tragically slow, and would have been quicker had the hardship been caused by a tornado or flood.

"It would have been a more visual thing and the damage would have been evident, but to see the impact of this crisis in Postville and northeast Iowa, you have to look into people’s eyes and you must hear their stories."

Most people have the wrong impression of what has happened, says Kress, and government officials don’t seem to grasp that this is an economic crisis.

"This is not just an immigration issue. This is not just an issue in Postville; it is affecting the entire northeast quadrant of our state."

In addition to the funds, the Lt. Governor announced that, beginning next week, three Americorps Vista workers will help secure food, shelter, health services, and light and water utilities for people in the four-county area around Postville impacted by the raid and the plant closing.

This story was compiled with assistance from the Center for Independent Media and a series of related stories is available at www.iowaindependent.com.




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