Driving the Narrative: Postville.

In 2008, the Bush administration carried out what was then the largest and most aggressive workplace immigration raid in U.S. history at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. What followed was both the government’s response of ugly mass prosecutions of humble workers on trumped up charges; devastated children, and families; and a legal, faith-based, and grassroots community that wasn’t prepared, but nevertheless stepped up to serve the families in multiple ways.

Our small part was working with UFCW’s communications team to point out the hypocrisy of targeting workers, when the employers at Agriprocessors were actually guilty of multiple gross labor violations that were dangerous to human lives, far more egregious than any visa problem. This became a strong undercurrent for much of the media coverage, which became international in scope. Eventually Sholom Rubashkin, the former head of Agriprocessors, was convicted and sentenced to 27 years for financial crimes. He was not held accountable for the labor abuses, and the Trump administration commuted his sentence.