Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
A 28-year-old convicted felon who had been previously deported from the U.S. pleaded guilty in federal court in Cedar Rapids Thursday to unlawfully reentering the country following removal subsequent to a conviction for an aggravated felony.
Luis Eduardo Ixen-Tzuquen admitted in court that he was a Guatemalan citizen who has never had legal residency status in the U.S. He was convicted in Allamakee County for felony third degree burglary in June 2000. Ixen-Tzuquen was then deported back to Guatemala in February 2001.
On June 23, 2008 agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement acted on a tip and detained Ixen-Tzuquen as he stood on the sidewalk in front of a restaurant in downtown Postville. The incident left many in the small community feeling afraid and vulnerable. Several Hispanic residents briefly returned to the Catholic church where they took refuge for six days following the federal action at the meatpacking plant.
Ixen-Tzuquen had not been working for Agriprocessors, the kosher meatpacking plant that was the site of a massive immigration raid in May, but had been doing jobs for a local property management company. Two former Postville residents reported at the time of the arrest that Ixen-Tzuquen was the person sent to their residences to evict them once they had stopped working at the meatpacking plant and rent monies could no longer be deducted from their plant pay.
Sentencing, before U.S. Chief District Court Judge Linda R. Reade, has not yet been scheduled. Ixen-Tzuquen remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Office pending sentencing. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment and post-prison supervised release for up to three years.
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