POSTVILLE, Iowa (CNN) -- The Rev. Lloyd Paul Ouderkirk sits beneath a cross of Jesus, the sun shining through the stained-glass windows that line his church.
"Nobody can tell me to shut up," says Ouderkirk, the pastor of St. Bridget's Catholic Church in the tiny town of Postville, Iowa, the epicenter of the nation's immigration debate in rural communities.
Ouderkirk is outraged at the way federal agents swooped into town and rounded up nearly 400 illegal immigrants on May 12 in a raid on the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, Agriprocessors. He's angry at the bosses of the plant who are accused of mistreating workers, including children, and using a workforce that the government contends was 75 percent illegal immigrants.
Let me get this straight, the priest is mad at the company, not mad at the illegals who knew their children were working illegally and did nothing. Shouldn't this be child abuse against the parents who allowed them to work?
And he's upset that Iowa Gov. Chet Culver and other top state officials haven't set foot in Postville since the raid left the town of 2,400 "bleeding to death." The raid was the largest work-force raid in the nation's history at the time, what one court interpreter said "criminalized the undocumented workers on a grand scale" for the first time.
"I think every elected politician -- no exceptions -- should bow their heads in shame," Ouderkirk says. "Upset?! Yeah, I'm upset. I mean give me a break ... If the elected politicians couldn't do any better than this to come up with a good, just immigration law, they should hang their heads in shame."
We have laws, these people chose not to follow them.
Within the next half hour, about two dozen women from Guatemala and Mexico begin arriving at his church, along with two men. All were picked up in the raid, but the federal government released them on humanitarian grounds because they are parents of children who are American citizens. Each wears an ankle bracelet. They are seeking political asylum or temporary residency within the United States.
Unable to work now, they come to St. Bridget's for financial help. The church pays their medical bills, food, rent and other daily expenses.
"They walk the streets here monitored wherever they go. They can't leave, they can't work, they all have children," Ouderkirk says. "So effectively, they are prisoners in our town and in this parish."
They are criminals stealing from all of us who are here legally.
Ouderkirk isn't the only one complaining. Mayor Bob Penrod said his town has been turned "topsy turvy" since the raid. He too wondered why he hasn't heard from the governor.
Here's a clue guys. If you have a lot of people, collecting in one area, living and working who probably don't speak english, they are most likely illegal. Did you know Mayor? Were you harboring illegals in your town? Unwilling to address the issue? You are just as guilty as creating this mess as the company you protected by doing nothing.
"Basically all we wanted was some advice on how to deal with some of the situations that keep arising," Penrod says.
You're on your own bud! You have created an expensive problem in your town by not addressing it yourself. Of course you can always pay for the expense by using the tax money they paid in your town. Or maybe with the state income tax they paid. Oh wait they used fraudulent documents. Gee to bad!
Gov. Culver's office says his administration played a "leading role" in an investigation of the meatpacking plant that led to more than 9,000 charges of child labor violations against its bosses and managers. "Gov. Culver has been a vocal critic of Agriprocessors," his office said in a written statement. It added that while the governor may not have visited, he has worked with state agencies to "address the needs of the families in Postville."
Agriprocessors declined comment for this story. In a statement after the raid, the company said it "cooperated with the government in the enforcement action. We intend to continue to cooperate with the government in its investigation. ... We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families whose lives were disrupted and wish them the best."
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stands by the raid in Postville. "Illegal aliens often turn to criminal activity, including document fraud, Social Security fraud or identify theft, in order to get jobs," ICE spokesman Tim Counts said in a written statement. "The demand for fraudulent documents and identities created by them creates thriving criminal enterprises that supply them."
Ouderkirk, who came out of retirement after the raid, says it's costing his church $80,000 a month, and the church only has enough money to keep paying through the end of the year. "It's pathetic when you have what was labeled by the man who directed the raid here as a 'very successful raid.' How successful is this when it does this to the children and breaks up families?" Ouderkirk says.
It would have been cheaper to rent buses and take them back to where they came from.
Rocelia Hernandez, a mother of four, came from Mexico seven years ago and worked at the kosher plant for three years. Displaying her ankle bracelet, she admits she entered the country illegally, but says she came to improve her children's lives.
"Since I arrived here, I haven't done anything but work because I wanted to have a house and have better things in the future for my children," Hernandez says.
While denying legal citizens and immigrants the jobs she took.
She says she was given a "Social Security number that they invented for me." Asked who made it, Hernandez says, "I don't know. I never knew."
The point is she knew she didn't have a Social Security Number and she used it anyway instead of saying "No!".
Hernandez says she's confused about why the government cracked down on her. The United States, she says, is a generous country that provides aid to countries to help impoverished people around the world.
"If the Americans have such a big heart or the government has such a big heart for other people, why don't they protect those of us who are already here? Why do they kick us out?" she says.
Because America helps people who abide by our laws in our country. We do not knownly help lawbreakers to continue to break the law.
"I want my son to learn the language and stay here and have a better life," Hernandez says of her 5-year-old American-born son.
Ouderkirk puts it more succinctly. "This is no way as a democracy to treat people. I don't care if they are legal or illegal. You don't tear families apart like this," Ouderkirk says. "The women and children we're taking care of right now are no more criminal than people driving down the street breaking the speed limit."
So this priest also provides protection for people who speed? How about muderers and rapists, does he protect them to? Probably, because he has no idea about their past.
I found the story reported this morning regarding large trucks chaining up to be very one sided. CDOT increased fines not because they were concerned about the safety of our roads but rather under pressure from the ski industry. The ski industry complained about lost review due to jack-knifed trucks on snowy roads. How much money did the ski industry lose because of the recent accident investigation? If the ski industry, who posts millions of dollars of profits each year, is so concerned, why didn't they put their money where their mouth is and help pay for additional chain up areas? I'll bet when they need snow cats, ski lifts and other essentials for their industry they are delivered by truck. They demanded that regulations be toughened up and fines increased without taking into consideration the need to increase the size of chain up areas or reviewing the need to decrease speeds along chain up areas. Instead they put the safety of truck drivers behind the almighty dollar. Recently another driver was killed because these areas were not addressed before making chain up areas larger and reducing speeds. How many truck drivers lives does the state of Colorado and the ski industry feel are expendable before they correct these issues? These concerns should have been addressed before we were into the snowy season again and before any increased regulations and fines were instituted! What a shame that they don't value a driver's life as much as they value the dollar.
I was wondering how the truck drivers out there are fairing on the roads of Colorado. Conditions of the roads, other drivers, law, regs, anything.
The law says 2 seconds between cars. Have you ever tried to keep a safe distance? You end up getting flipped off by the person behind you or another car pulls in front of you shortening the distance to unsafe. Another problem is yeild signs. No one pays attention to them. Drivers pull right into traffic expecting the main stream of traffic to accomodate them. It seems like no one knows what "yeild" means. On the western slope we are having a frenzy of round abouts put in. Drivers have no concept of how to drive through them and rarely use turn signals to leave, cutting across lanes to exit. I like the round abouts but find them just as dangerous as an intersection with a stop sign. Our local paper could do a great public servicre by printing instructions, with pictures, on how to use them.
