CNN has a two part feature on…
…Postville 5 months after the massive immigration raid that devastated the town and Agriprocessors.
The point made time and again by townspeople and observers is that US immigration policy is inherently unfair, and that of course is true.
The point made too infrequently is that Agriprocessors' employment practices grossly exploited that system and those workers.
You can go to other plants across the county and find illegals working. We all know this is common.
But what is not common are the abuses and exploitation that were exposed at Agriprocessors. What is also uncommon is the sheer number of illegals employed – 75% of Agriprocessors' workforce on the day of the raid.
The Rubashkin family business was uncommonly cruel to its illegal workforce. It also allegedly knowingly recruited many of these illegals and knowingly participated in ID theft and document fraud.
That is the real story of Agriprocessors.