Dear All;
The ripples keep coming from the Postville, IA kosher meatpacking ICE raid.
This article is about what happened to Postville when 1/4 of its 2,300 person population disappeared or were arrested. The article notes how Hispanic workers are now being replace by legal(?) immigrant Somali workers and how the town is going to be going through another cultural shift.
Some of the Somali workers have complained about how they are being treated as far as living quarters go and why so many of them have been crammed into so few rooms. A complaint the Hispanic workers also had.
Plus there have been follow up reports on the underage teen workers having false ID's showing them to be older than they really plus as usual workers having counterfeit green cards and stolen Social Security numbers some of those provided by the managers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080816/ap_on_bi_ge/after_the_raid
On a side note the plant was a kosher plant and the results of the raid prompted conservative Jewish leaders to propose an additional certification: The proposed "hekhsher tzedek," or "certificate of righteousness," awarded to companies that pay fair wages, ensure workplace safety, follow government environmental regulations and treat animals humanely. Orthodox and Reform leaders have yet to agree and as noted in the article the Orthodox movement oversees most of the kosher industry.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/NEWS/808010372/-1/ENT06
The House Judicairy Sub Committee on Immigration held its hearings and basically called for employer sanctions and also complained about why illegal immigrants taking jobs away from Americans.
Dear Congresspersons HINT: welfare - extended unemployment beneifts - prevailing wages - minimum wages - employer matching payroll taxes - business taxes - mandated benefits - OSHA - FDA - and so on.
Ron Getty - SF Libertarian
Hostis res Publica
Morte ai Tiranni