Busted! Feds arrest former Agriprocessors manager
November 1, 2008 by Border Explorer
Halloween trick? Sholom Rubashkin, former manager of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville IA was in federal court in Cedar Rapids IA yesterday afternoon on criminal charges.
I returned to Iowa in May just in time for the historic ICE Raid on the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville IA–the largest ever, at the time. Almost 400 “illegal immigrants” were rounded up, their lives destroyed, their families made destitute. They suffer to this day: in prison or branded with detention bracelets on their ankles–no income, no future.
As the raid played out, it trained a spotlight upon the seamy reality of the Agriprocessors plant whose practices even included child labor. Finally, yesterday, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Rubashkin, 49, was arrested. He faces federal charges of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens for financial gain, aiding and abetting document fraud and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft, according to documents filed in the case.
For me, it’s a Halloween treat. It’s not that I wish him evil. It’s not that I want to make anyone suffer. But I so desire to see justice triumph from time to time. And it’s time for some higher justice in this case.
Rubashkin was released, after agreeing to surrender his passport and the passport of his wife, to wear a GPS ankle bracelet, restrict his travel to the northern district of Iowa and execute a $1 million bond, $500,000 of which must be secured by Wednesday. [Prosecutor are concerned Rubashkin could be a flight risk. He's rich enough to go a long way away.]
Rubashkin, 49, is the son of the company’s president and principal owner, Aaron Rubashkin.
Yes, sometimes the higher ups also fall.
Join the Postville moms, Solomon, and live your life with an ankle bracelet for awhile. You will never suffer as much as the people whose lives you’ve used and destroyed:
PS: Two notes of thanks: 1) TO MY READERS–thanks for agonizing and outraging along with me throughout the summer as we have decried this nightmare.
2) to the Cedar Rapids Gazette for top photo and story details. Click title for a link there.
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Kind of ironic, that an orthodox religious practitioner, and someone who has made his living supplying products that conform to strict religious law, finds himself in trouble with the civil law. I feel for the aliens (and I don’t use the word perjoratively) mixed up in all of this, all they are trying to do is make better life for themselves, just as millions of immigrants to the U.S. before have, their mistake is that they came here “under the radar”. The U.S. really needs to address the issue of immigrant (legal or not) workers, we need these people who are willing to do the jobs no one else will, we should extend our hands in welcome, this country was built by immigrants across the centuries.
As far as Mr. Rubashkin, shame on him, he deserves what ever he gets, he has simply exploited innocent people in a vulnerable position, and his actions after the initial “round ups”, by recruiting other ethnic immigrant groups to exploit demonstrates his overarching greed and disregard for the law.
Thanks for your thoughts, Big Fella. That religious irony is not lost on me. In my mind I can hear the Hebrew prophets’ voices thundering as they rage about this situation. And I hear the deafening silence in the political arena on the subject of immigration reform, as well.
There is plenty of blame in this situation to spread around. Perhaps Rubashkin will be proven guilty of egregious immorality. And if he is, then I will be satisfied to see him punished to the fullest extent of the law. But if the U.S. political system is my government, then the abuses that occur due to the broken immigration system happen in my name, too.
There’s lots of work that needs to be done to turn this situation around. Again, I appreciate your words of support here.