The mostly-immigrant workers who toil in the nation’s
meatpacking industry face many of the same dangerous conditions
and stark exploitation as the immigrant meatpackers depicted in
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle 100 years ago. On May 12, the
largest single immigration raid in U.S. history took place in
the tiny town of Postville, Iowa, home to the Agriprocessors
Kosher meatpacking plant. During the raid, the feds issued 700
warrants and made nearly 400 arrests. The 700 displaced workers
represented 75% of the Agriprocessors workforce and a full third
of the town’s residents. As in previous raids, this one resulted
in the separation of families. Fathers and husbands were sent to
jails, mothers were clapped with house-arrest anklets, and
babies and children were threatened with being separated from
one or both parents. The aftermath of the raid will likely be
another lesson in the class system. While some managers might be
prosecuted for minor offenses, the actual owners are very
unlikely to be touched. Can you i