WL mayor learns from Postville experience
by Sara Sedlacek · August 13, 2008
In the aftermath of the May immigration raid at Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville, West Liberty Mayor Clifford McFerren began to consider the impact a similar raid at West Liberty Foods might have on West Liberty. In order to gauge the impact and how the city would handle an immigration raid, McFerren visited Postville and met with its mayor to discuss the impact a raid has on a small community and what West Liberty can do to prepare and recover should such an event happen here.
“I went to Postville to find out how the city dealt with the immigration raid and to find out what the impact was directly on the city services,” McFerren said. “The biggest impact was on unpaid utilities. Some businesses closed temporarily but it didn’t take long for them to open again.”
McFerren said many of those involved looked to the city for support.
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing the city could really do,” he said. “The Red Cross was called in but they were told to pull out because it wasn’t a disaster. The Red Cross left, leaving only the churches. The churches were really the key to the support and helping broken families.”
McFerren explained the churches remained in close contact with the city but there was very little the city could do. He said he is confident in West Liberty’s Ministerial Association and believes it will be the key component if such a raid should happen in West Liberty.
“West Liberty has a very good Ministerial Association,” he said. “Postville didn’t have a very good one. Our workforce here has integrated events and the churches work very well together. My intention is to meet with the Ministerial Association to discuss what I learned in Postville. They may already know [what I learned] but it’s important to have a city representative meet with them.”
McFerren said he was amazed at how quickly the employees at Agriprocessors were replaced after the raid. People from other parts of the country were quickly bussed into Postville to fill the positions left vacant by the raid. He said very few people were affected by the loss of renters in Postville but the same would not happen in West Liberty.
“There were one or two individuals who owned all the properties these families lived in,” McFerren explained. “These individuals were also associated with the plant. It hurt the plant itself but didn’t affect the town, which I thought was unique.”
McFerren also noted the role of the mayor and the media during the raid. Postville Mayor Robert Penrod told McFerren all eyes were on him during the raid.
“It was a media frenzy,” he said. “All attention was on the mayor’s office. Mayor Penrod said we need to be prepared for the media onslaught.”
McFerren said Penrod also told him how the raid affected not only the Agriprocessors plant but the entire town.
“This raid shut down the entire town,” he said. “They locked the school down and put all the Hispanic kids in the gym, according to Mayor Penrod. He said it was to tell them what was going on, which incited panic among the kids.
“They used three helicopters; two on the perimeter and one over the plant,” McFerren continued. “Mayor Penrod said he thought this was very extreme compared to the raids in Marshalltown. He thought there was something more going on than just illegal immigration. He said what makes this different is that people from out-of-state came to southeast Iowa to open a plant. They have a different culture, different ways of processing meat. Those are the only differences.”
Though, he said, those differences are shared by West Liberty Foods, as well.
“Our local plant is just that - it’s local. It’s made up of the Turkey Growers Association, who are local farmers,” he said. “They have a vested interest in making sure nothing unethical happens at the plant.”
McFerren said he has no doubt West Liberty and West Liberty Foods will someday be affected by an immigration raid but has faith in the industry and the community.
“It will happen here, eventually. However, I have all the confidence in the world that West Liberty Foods does not intentionally hire undocumented workers,” he said. “With a history of more than 30 years of having food processing in West Liberty, I think the community as a whole is better prepared. Hopefully, when it does happen here it will be minor and the community will be prepared and able to move forward.” |
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