Congregations studying immigration issues now have another resource. An independent film has been made about the infamous U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a meat packing plant in Postville, Iowa, on May 12, 2008. The raid resulted in nearly 400 arrests of immigrant workers. Many served five months in prison before being deported. The 96-minute film, abUSed—the Postville Raid, was filmed at Postville and in Guatemala after the raid.

The Northeast Iowa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Decorah, Iowa, is the closest UU congregation to Postville. Sue Otte, program chair at the congregation, said the fellowship helped out in the raid’s aftermath:

We were closely involved in assisting the folks impacted by this raid, and along with our Decorah Faith Coalition, we assisted nine young men released from prison on ridiculous charges of identity theft. Our fellowship is very interested in seeing that UUs see this film, especially in light of our focus as an association on immigration as a moral issue, and at General Assembly 2012 in Phoenix.

The fellowship did a three-weeks series of programs on immigration this winter.

A DVD of the film for personal use is $23. The price for faith-based communities begins at $100 depending on the size of the community and ability to pay. Learn more on the Postville Raid blog or email abusethepostvilleraid.sales at gmail.com.

About the Author

Don Skinner

Don Skinner is editor of InterConnections and a member of the Shawnee Mission UU Church in Lenexa, Kansas.

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