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How Mass Immigration Raids Impact Communities

Correspondent Jessica Gomez travels to Postville to speak with community members.

How Mass Immigration Raids Impact Communities

Correspondent Jessica Gomez travels to Postville to speak with community members.

MATTER OF FACT. AS OF MID JUNE, 56,000 PEOPLE WERE IN ICE DETENTION. IT’S AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 16,000 PEOPLE FROM LAST JANUARY. ICE CONTINUES TO CARRY OUT IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN CITIES AND COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MONTHS AND YEARS AFTER A MASS RAID? 17 YEARS AGO, POSTVILLE, IOWA, A CITY OF ABOUT 2500 PEOPLE, WAS THE SITE OF WHAT WAS THEN THE LARGEST SINGLE RAID IN U.S. HISTORY. OUR CORRESPONDENT, JESS GOMEZ TRAVELED TO POSTVILLE, WHERE SOME IN THE QUIET COMMUNITY SAY THEY ARE STILL FEELING THE AFTERSHOCKS. SUMMERTIME IN POSTVILLE, IOWA, A RURAL COMMUNITY POWERED MOSTLY BY AGRICULTURE AND ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST KOSHER MEAT PROCESSING PLANTS. IT’S A PLACE WHERE YOU’LL SEE A CHURCH, A SYNAGOGUE AND A MOSQUE ALL ON THE SAME STREET. THE DIVERSITY HERE LEADING TO POSTVILLE SLOGAN HOMETOWN TO THE WORLD. YEAH, IT’S READY FOR SOME PIZZA. MOM OF FIVE CASEY JOHNSON AND HER FAMILY’S NEWEST ADDITION, 11 YEAR OLD EDWIN. I DON’T KNOW WHAT LIFE IS LIKE WITHOUT HIM. IS HE LIVING? YES IT IS. CASEY TOOK TEMPORARY CUSTODY OF EDWIN IN MARCH AFTER HIS FATHER FROM HONDURAS, WHO HAD AN IMMIGRATION CASE PENDING, WAS ARRESTED. HE’S SERVING TIME FOR USING FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTS TO WORK AT THE MEAT PROCESSING PLANT. IT WAS MORE OR LESS. HE RAN TO MY ARMS BECAUSE HE RECOGNIZED ME FROM SCHOOL. ME AND MY LITTLE BROTHER. YOU AND YOUR LITTLE BROTHER. EDWIN’S MOTHER AND BROTHER. STILL IN HONDURAS. WHEN I TOOK HIM UPSTAIRS TO HIS ROOM, HE SLEPT WITH THE LIGHT ON. HE WOULD BARRICADED HIMSELF INSIDE SO THE BAD PEOPLE WOULDN’T COME GET HIM. UNEASE SHARED BY MANY IN POSTVILLE WORRIED THAT HISTORY MIGHT REPEAT ITSELF. MY HEART IS REALLY BREAKING. IT WAS THE SCENE OF THE LARGEST WORKPLACE IMMIGRATION RAID IN U.S. HISTORY. IN 2008. NEARLY 400 PEOPLE AT THE MEAT PROCESSING PLANT, THEN UNDER DIFFERENT OWNERSHIP, WERE ARRESTED, AND NEARLY 300 DEPORTED. OKAY. THANK YOU. BARBARA. HERZMANN, WHO VOLUNTEERS AT THE POSTVILLE FOOD PANTRY, WAS A TEACHER AT THE TIME. FATHER AND MOTHER CAME TO PICK UP THEIR SON, AND I NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN. HE WAS GONE. AND AUTO MECHANIC GIORA ABBAS AND ISRAELI IMMIGRANT WORKED FOR THE PLANT IN TRANSPORTATION. I DIDN’T HAVE ANY WORK, YOU KNOW, I USED TO BE BUSY. WE USED TO BE LIKE FIVE PEOPLE DRIVING AROUND. AND IN ONE DAY, THAT’S IT. ZERO HOMES WERE EMPTIED OVERNIGHT AND BUSINESSES SHUT DOWN, SOME FOR GOOD. THE PLANT WENT BANKRUPT. DINARS USED TO BE YOU COULD GO DOWNTOWN 24 OVER SEVEN AND THERE WAS ACTIVITY ALL OVER. AFTER THE RAID, NOBODY. AND WE WENT TO GUANAJUATO. BOB SCHRADER, A FORMER POSTVILLE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, MET HIS WIFE BLANCA ON A GOODWILL MISSION TO MEXICO. YEARS BEFORE THE 2008 RAID, COMPANIES HERE, THEY ALREADY HAD POSTERS OUT IN MEXICO TELLING THE PEOPLE TO COME HERE FOR WORK. THEY PRETEND THAT WE ARE A REALLY BAD PEOPLE. LAURA CASTILLO WAS ARRESTED IN THE RAID AND THEY PUT SOMETHING HERE IN YOUR DISK, AND YOU HAVE TO WALK LIKE THAT. LAURA RODRIGUEZ, AFTER SIX MONTHS IN JAIL AND YEARS OF WAITING, CASTILLO FINALLY BECAME A U.S. CITIZEN. TODAY, SHE WORKS FOR A NONPROFIT THAT HELPS THOSE IN NEED, INCLUDING POSTVILLE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY. I KNOW IT’S NO IT’S NO GOOD TO WORK WITH THAT DOCUMENTS. IT’S A FELONY. BUT NOT EVERYBODY IS A BAD PEOPLE. JUST ABOUT EVERYONE ACKNOWLEDGES HOW TERRIBLE IT WAS FOR OUR COMMUNITY. KRYSTAL DUFFY IS THE DIRECTOR OF POSTVILLE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. SHE SAYS IT TOOK YEARS FOR THE SMALL TOWN TO RECOVER FROM THE RAID, AND IT WASN’T AMERICAN BORN WORKER, SHE SAYS, WHO FILLED MOST OF THE JOBS LEFT VACANT. THE REALITY OF THE ECONOMY IN THIS COMMUNITY IS THAT IT’S ACTUALLY THE IMMIGRANTS DRIVING IT, FOR THE MOST PART. YOU’RE WELCOME. DUFFY ALSO RUNS THE LOCAL LIBRARY, WHICH HAS BECOME A HUB FOR THE CITY’S HEART AND SOUL PROGRAM, PART OF A NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO RESIDENTS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES. THE NUMBER ONE RESPONSE WE GOT WHEN WE ASKED WHAT PEOPLE LOVED ABOUT POSTVILLE WAS THE DIVERSITY. HE JUST KIND OF IS ONE OF US. CASEY JOHNSON AND HER FAMILY ARE EMBRACING. BUT WHEN A GAME OF SOCCER WITH A FRIEND. IS INTERRUPTED BY A RARE PHONE CALL WITH BOTH OF EDWARDS PARENTS, IT’S A STARK REMINDER OF AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. I CAN LOOK AT HIM AND SAY, OH, YOU’RE GOING TO BE JUST FINE, BUT DOES HE KNOW THAT IN HIS HEART, I’M NOT SURE. IN POSTVILLE, IOWA, FOR MATTER OF FAC
Updated: 2:46 PM CDT Jul 16, 2025
Editorial Standards
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How Mass Immigration Raids Impact Communities

Correspondent Jessica Gomez travels to Postville to speak with community members.

Updated: 2:46 PM CDT Jul 16, 2025
Editorial Standards
On May 12, 2008, the small town of Postville, Iowa became known as the site of one of the largest immigration raids in recent history when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 400 people at a local slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant. Seventeen years later, residents say they are still recovering from the emotional and economic toll of the raid. Correspondent Jessica Gomez travels to Postville to speak with community members about the long-term impacts of mass immigration raids.

On May 12, 2008, the small town of Postville, Iowa became known as the site of one of the largest immigration raids in recent history when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 400 people at a local slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant. Seventeen years later, residents say they are still recovering from the emotional and economic toll of the raid. Correspondent Jessica Gomez travels to Postville to speak with community members about the long-term impacts of mass immigration raids.

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