After Postville raid, advocates hope next step is immigration reform

The immigration process is slow-moving, as immigration attorney Sonia Parras Konrad knows all too well, but she hopes reform is the next chapter in the aftermath of the 2008 Agriprocessors immigration raid.

Parras Konrad, a Des Moines attorney, has represented more than 200 former Agriprocessors workers of 389 who were arrested. After five years and 40 former workers, she is just finishing up the last family of six who received U-Visas in connection with the raid.

U-Visas were given to workers who were victims of violence and abuse at Agriprocessors, which allowed them to stay in the United States and work for four years, Parras Konrad said.

In the third year, they are eligible to apply for a green card. She wouldn't talk about any specific case or person, but said the affidavits taken in the Agriprocessors' cases showed adult and children workers were emotionally, verbally and physically abused and assaulted.

Former Agriprocessors Vice President Sholom Rubashkin was convicted on federal financial fraud charges and is serving 27 years in prison, but he was acquitted on charges related to child labor laws in state court.

According to the court documents, the workers admitted in the plea agreements to breaking the law by using false documents to gain work in this country. Many arrested were deported and some spent six months in prison before being deported.

“There were so many victims of crime - I couldn't get to all of them,” Parras Konrad said. “This was a nationwide effort. There were over 100 volunteers - lawyers, paralegals and others. I didn't charge anyone. I only asked for donations to pay for faxes, copying and mailing fees.”

Rosa Zamora, a Guatemalan woman who received a U-Visa, said “God sent Sonia” to her.

“She wouldn't let me pay her,” Zamora said. “She said if she won, then pay her when I got a job. She never asked for money.”

Parras Konrad helped her get a U-Visa, which also allowed her to bring husband Fermin Loyes back from Guatemala after being deported. He served a six-month prison term before being deported and the couple was separated for three years.

Time for reform

Parras Konrad said she has “high hopes” this will be the year for comprehensive immigration reform. After five years of working on the Agriprocessors' cases, she is tired but excited about the possibilities for the people who get to stay in this country and gain legal status.

“Kids have reunited with their parents and are taking advantage of what the country has to offer for their future,” Parras Konrad said. “It's also satisfying to see the kids (minors) who worked at the plant, who were abused, to overcome that and they are getting an education.”

Pastor Steve Brackett, of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Postville, said he also has hopes but feels frustrated by the political discussions about immigration.

“The answer lies with better policies and law,” Brackett said. “There's so much politics in it all. There's such gridlock. Can you get difficult things done now? It takes a lot of energy to compromise. I don't know if reform will look like what you want it to.”

Campus Pastor David Vasquez of Luther College in Decorah, said advocates for reform will have to “stay vocal and active. The challenge is apathy.”

Vasquez provided advocacy after the raid and helped coordinate local response, along with other volunteers in the community, and also helped maintain a database of detainees because there wasn't an official list to inform their families.