April 27, 2009

CHICAGO – As the one-year anniversary of a massive raid at a meatpacking plant nears, spiritual leaders in the northeastern Iowa town of Postville are urging Americans to press for comprehensive immigration reform.

They're also calling on individuals and communities to wear or display red ribbons across the country on May 12, the anniversary of the raid in Postville at Agriprocessors, once the nation's largest producer of kosher meat.

"Immigration raids are foolish. They traumatize families and children. They break families apart. We need a policy that treats people with dignity and justice," said the Rev. Steven P. Brackett, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Postville.

St. Paul is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

Postville churches also will "sound a call for justice" by ringing their bells at 10 a.m., the time the raids began. Bells will toll 389 times at St. Paul Lutheran Church in remembrance of those arrested and their families, largely Guatemalan and Mexican nationals.

The 389 names will be read aloud during an interfaith prayer service later in the day at St. Bridget Catholic Church, followed by procession to the plant. Lutheran and Catholic bishops, as well as a rabbi, plan to participate.

"We will pray that something positive comes out of what happened at Agriprocessors – that some of the hearts and damage done to people will be healed," Brackett said.

Many of the illegal immigrants arrested were imprisoned for several months and then deported. Others are still being detained, including dozens of women wearing tracking devices, waiting for court hearings and caring for their children. Because they are not allowed to work, donations from religious communities are helping to pay their living expenses, Brackett said.

The plant and several of its leaders face numerous counts of violating immigration and other laws. In addition, there are thousands of charges accusing them of hiring and exploiting minors, forcing some to handle dangerous equipment.

During the prayer service, two statements from Postville detainees will be read. "I came to this country because I have a son with asthma," one statement reads. "I could hardly provide for food and clothing, let alone extra medicine in Mexico. ... I saw the necessity to cross into the United States in order to keep him alive."

The Rev. Steven L. Ullestad, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly, plans to speak about the trauma and grief of Postville's Jewish and Christian communities in the aftermath of the raids.

"Our children, the children of all faiths and from all parts of the world, have experienced terror in a way that others outside of this community cannot imagine," the bishop's reflection states.

A copy of the May 12 prayer service is posted in English, Spanish and some Hebrew at the Web site http://www.postvillestbridget.org/, for use or adaptation around the country.

ELCA News Service