it is a joint booklet of Floricanto and Berkeley Presses.

In could of 2008, the small city of Postville, Iowa, skilled an Immigration Raid within which approximately four hundred Latino immigrant employees within the meat processing have been arrested. The Postville Raid, the second one biggest in U.S. heritage, used to be the 1st and final of its variety. rather than instantly deporting the undocumented, they have been attempted in teams of ten on fees of id robbery after which despatched to penal complex for five ½ months. a bunch of forty girls have been arrested yet published with GPS displays on their ankles in order that they may possibly take care of kids, and have been held in Postville for over a 12 months in which they weren't allowed to paintings to aid their households. those are the existence tales, advised of their personal phrases, of a few of the staff who have been laid low with the raid. The immigrant families,with particular emphasis on girls and kids, percentage the tales in their childhoods, the choice and the adventure to “El Norte,” operating on the meat processing plant, and the raid and its aftermath. those real tales vividly painting the phobia, violence and harassment that's the lot of these who're “undocumented,” but additionally exhibits their power of spirit within the face of poverty-stricken childhoods, harmful border crossings, inhumane operating stipulations, and as they skilled the U.S. felony and penal system.

"The long-silenced voices of the standard migrants victimized by means of the notorious federal raid at Postville, Iowa are recovered finally during this quantity, the place they coalesce right into a light mallet that moves on the gong of our nationwide judgment of right and wrong, issuing a serious warning call to our humanity. Our simply dignified solution could be reasonable and lasting immigration reform." --Erik Camayd-Freixas, writer of U.S. Immigration Reform and its worldwide effect: classes from the Postville Raid.

“An earthquake don't have been capable of plunge Postville right into a higher experience of loss and confusion than the government did that day. I take note the tales of the fogeys and the kids who couldn't locate one another, a group easily devastated via the raid, and the non secular group stepping as much as support, supply preserve, and supply info within the vacuum. Postville immediately turned iconic locally for why we want immigration reform and it really is nonetheless a picture that haunts and evokes me. And it's a tale that needs to be instructed and remembered.”
Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez, U.S. condo of Representatives (IL-04)

The authors devote this publication to the ladies and males who generously shared their stories of the Postville ICE raid.
“It was once either my privilege and problem to function the Pastoral Administrator of St. Bridget’s Parish in Postville, Iowa on the time of the infamous and disgraceful immigration raid at Agriprocessors on could 12, 2008. This event confident me that the “Postville tale” had to be instructed and retold, for the sharing of a narrative could have a profound impression on our lives. tales form our lives. tales encourage. tales convey to lifestyles our private held values and ideology. tales tell and tales have the capability to remodel. My wish is that the tales inside this sacred textual content can have the facility, not just to rework person hearts, yet eventually to remodel our present immigration coverage. “
Sister Mary McCauley, BVM

“An earthquake do not need been capable of plunge Postville right into a larger feel of loss and confusion than the government did that day. I keep in mind the tales of the fogeys and the youngsters who couldn't locate one another, a neighborhood easily devastated through the raid, and the non secular group stepping as much as aid, offer preserve, and supply info within the vacuum. Postville immediately turned iconic within the American Latino group for why we'd like immigration reform and it truly is nonetheless a picture that haunts and conjures up me. And it's a tale that needs to be advised and remembered.”
Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez, U.S. condo of Representatives