This past Sunday, over 1,000 people marched the streets of Postville, Iowa to protest the nation's largest immigration raid. The protesters, men, women and children, joined together in crying out against the working conditions at the Agriprocessors plant, as well as, the detention/deportation of over 300 workers.
One Postville marcher declares his disapproval against the way immigration is enforced by the federal government.
(Source: The Iowa Independent: Lynda Waddington)
Yet, had it not been for the conscience-stricken federal interpreter who came forward to reveal how the federal government railroaded these undocumented workers into deportation, the height of the injustice of the system would not have been brought to light.
Nor would it have stirred the interests of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who visited with Postville immigrant families this past Saturday and will be holding a press conference tomorrow in Washington, D.C. to unveil the results of their fact-finding mission, and to voice a special request of Congress on behalf of the families left behind from the raid who are struggling on a daily basis to live.
The secretive and isolationist nature of how the federal government conducts deportations and immigrant detentions naturally lends itself to abuse of the system and the erosion of human rights. By failing to make the process transparent -- from blocking out the windows on the buses transporting apprehended immigrants and denying due process of law, to depriving families of personal contact with detainees -- the government is creating a hidden system.
It is precisely that concept of "A Hidden System" that is the title of a new video by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Documenting the practices and impact of this federal policy that is part of an overall broken immigration system, the video achieves in spotlighting a department of the government that critics of illegal immigration hail as working perfectly.
However, as the video shows, the impact of these enforcement practices creates an undue emotional and physical hardship on families and children that must be seen to be believed: