Sister Mary McCauley

McCauley will receive the honor on Aug. 29 at a special ceremony in the State Historical Building in Des Moines.

In the immediate wake of a May 2008 massive immigration raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, many immigrant families took refuge in St. Bridget’s Church. McCauley was instrumental not only in providing for the immediate needs of those seeking sanctuary, but in developing a plan of action to care for the women and children left behind.

Sister McCauley, speaking to The Iowa Independent roughly one month after the raid, said she’s been asked many times how the raid and its aftermath have affected the community and the congregation.

“I’ve thought about it and there are two words that describe it. This has shattered us, and it has strengthened us,” she said. When she opened her mouth to continue, at first no words came. Her eyes filled with tears, and she apologized as she reached into her pocket for a well-worn tissue. Her voice was soft but also resolute when she continued.

“When I say ’shattered,’ I mean that it shattered the families. It shattered the children who were running around and asking, ‘Where is my mother?’ or ‘Where is my father?’ Then there are the poor mothers who are left to care for their children. What is she going to do? How is she going to get back to Mexico? She doesn’t have any money. Should she go back? Should she remain? She is wondering how long her husband is going to be in jail. So, they are shattered, they are afraid, and they are filled with anxiety.

“At the same time, they have found strength and love, and they are giving it to one another. Our St. Bridget’s community and the Postville community and, really, the entire United States community have given strength. When we receive a letter, for example, from Los Angeles, that says that the writer is praying for us, with us, supporting us and concerned about us, then we know that we can go on another day.”

McCauley, along with other staff members at St. Bridget’s, helped organize public vigils, meetings and demonstrations. Although she does not speak Spanish, she became a both a media contact for the women left behind in Postville and a pillar of strength those in need knew would remain sturdy. She helped organize church staff, volunteers and like-minded agencies to provide legal clinics, medical exams, bill payment and many other services that were never highlighted on newscasts or in print.

“We are aware of some of the pain, suffering and injustice that you experienced in your home country and also upon arriving in the United States,” McCauley said to immigrants who gathered at the church for a prayer vigil on the one-year anniversary of the raid. “For any pain, suffering or injustice that we as individuals, our Postville community, our government or any of our citizens may have caused, we ask your forgiveness.”

Due to McCauley’s unfailing belief that an injustice has been served on immigrant families in Postville and elsewhere she has become a positive role model for those who seek comprehensive immigration reform. The stance has also made her, as well as the Catholic Church as a whole, a lightning rod for those who believe otherwise.

The Christine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice was established by the ICSW in 1982 in honor of the organization’s first chairwoman. During first four years under Wilson’s leadership Iowa passed legislation prohibiting sex discrimination in housing, credit and education as well as legislation that required recognition of the contribution of homemakers in inheritance tax determinations. The state also began funding and licensing child care center, created a process by which women could be considered for gubernatorial appointment, outlined the first progressive rape statute, and developed the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame. As such, the medal holding her name is given to those individuals whose lives and work have illustrated outstanding dedication and service on behalf of the ideals of equality and justice.

At the same time as McCauley is honored the ICSW will also induct four new women into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame. They are Linda K. Kerber of Iowa City, Mary E. Kramer of Clive, Adeline Lavonne McCormick-Ohnemus of Milo and Lyn Stinson of Burlington.

Time may not have necessarily healed all wounds in Postville following last year’s massive federal immigration raid, but it has dulled the pain enough for demonstrators to approach immigration with a considered thoughtfulness not seen previously.

“The overall feel of this rally was so different than the one in July,” said Sister Mary McCauley as she reflected on the differences between Postville’s one-year anniversary observance held Tuesday and the much larger demonstration and march held last summer. “What I felt today was a specific focus and call for comprehensive immigration reform. In July everything was so raw — there was a lot of anger being expressed.”

McCauley, who officially retired as the pastoral administrator for the region that includes St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, is one of the people who have held hands, prayed and worked tirelessly in the months following the massive immigration raid at Agriprocessors that ended with 389 mostly Hispanic laborers in federal custody and charged criminally.

Sister Mary McCauley

“We are aware of some of the pain, suffering and injustice that you experienced in your home country and also upon arriving in the United States,” McCauley said to the immigrants who gathered at the church for a prayer vigil on Tuesday evening. “For any pain, suffering or injustice that we as individuals, our Postville community, our government or any of our citizens may have caused, we ask your forgiveness.”

Following McCauley’s comments, the roughly 700 people assembled at the church lined up on the street outside. Compared to last summer, there were far fewer signs held by participants, and most were carried primarily for group identification. While the walkers were not silent, there was no deliberate effort made to organize specific chants.

The group walked through a residential area, with a clear sense of purpose but little outward anger. They met no resistance, save a single comment yelled through a resident’s open window. Upon arriving at the Agriprocessors plant’s property line, no one seemed to want a confrontation. Instead, four men of faith climbed into the back of a waiting truck, grabbed nearby megaphones and offered a blessing.

“Confident of [God's] constant presence, we ask [his] blessing on this plant,” said Rabbi Morris Allen, who drove in from St. Paul, Minn. “Since its opening in 1987, many have labored to produce nourishing food. We ask your blessing on all who have worked here, who are working here, or may work here in the future. May they labor in the atmosphere of peace, justice and safety.”

Even before the blessing could be translated into Spanish, the marchers applauded to signal approval of the sentiments expressed.

“I dreaded this day for two weeks, but then it dawned on me a few days ago that this day was really just going to be like any other,” said Paul Rael, Hispanic lay-minister at St. Bridget’s. “This was a day to continue our theme of July 27, advocating for just practices in the work place, family solidarity and comprehensive immigration reform. We also had another opportunity to let the story out of our people. Those stories need to be told, known and repeated.”

And, they were. During the prayer vigil, two immigrants, one male and one female, provided compelling narratives of their journey into the U.S. and what they found upon arrival.

Sandra Rybachek of Madison, Wis., and Jorge Mario Perez of Postville hold a Guatemalan flag in front of St. Bridget's Church in Postville on Tuesday.

“Today was a day of sadness because we stood in solidarity with people who have lived in pain,” McCauley said. “I felt great heartache, but I also felt great hope at the number of people who were here. One of our Mexican women walked with me and expressed what a great day it was. She had tears of joy.

“But until we can get our citizens to call up on their congresspersons and senators, and until we can get our political leaders here in Postville and seeing the pain of the people, then only will immigration reform become a priority. What we have to do is move it from Postville and what we’ve witnessed today and into the global world.”

Although no members of the Iowa congressional delegation personally came to Postville for the one-year anniversary, representatives were sent from the offices of U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin and Rep. Bruce Braley, both Democrats. Official statements were distributed by Rep. Tom Latham, a Republican, as well as Braley and Harkin. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, also a Republican, wrote a letter to McCauley indicating his regrets and offering “best wishes for a memorable afternoon.” Iowa Gov. Chet Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge did not acknowledge the anniversary.

A prayer vigil to commemorate the May 12, 2008 immigration raid in Postville will be held at 4 p.m. today at St. Bridget's Church in Postville. Organizers believe a number of religious and social justice organizations throughout the nation will stop today and remember what happened in Postville.

A year ago today, Sister Mary McCauley, pastoral administrator for the region that includes St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville, was greeted by a parishioner with the following words: “Sister, a terrible thing has happened to our town.”

At the time, according to McCauley, she didn’t fully appreciate how true the parishioner’s words would turn out to be.

“A terrible thing did happen to the town of Postville. A terrible thing has happened to our Hispanic brothers and sisters. And I add that a terrible thing has happened to our country,” McCauley said by phone on Monday.

For these reasons, she said, on the one-year anniversary of the massive immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, the St. Bridget’s Response Team and numerous other organizations are hoping to create awareness and solidarity across the country.

The “Day of Remembrance” in Postville began at 10 a.m. — the time the immigration raid began — with the ringing of church bells and the blowing of the shofar, a Jewish horn. Bells toll 389 times at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Postville, once for each worker detained in the raid.

Organizers have invited concerned groups throughout the nation to observe a moment of silence or otherwise mark this moment that changed so many lives one year ago.

Because this one-year anniversary coincides with the Jewish observance of Lag Ba’Omer, that religious community will conduct its annual parade of celebration beginning at 11 a.m. The holiday commemorates the end of a plague that claimed the lives of many Jewish scholars, and is also the anniversary of a 2nd century rabbi’s death. Jewish communities remember the importance of loving others, and also spend time communing with nature on this date.

The Postville Response Coalition and other interested groups will host a joint press conference at 1:30 p.m. It is believed that Joseph Sarachek, bankruptcy trustee for Agriprocessors, may make a statement regarding the plant at that time.

Throughout the day art depicting the people and the circumstance of Postville will be on display.

In late afternoon, after school has been dismissed, participants will once again gather at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church for a vigil and “solidarity walk” to the meatpacking plant on the edge of town. The vigil, which is expected to be conducted by Lutheran and Catholic bishops as well as a rabbi, will begin at 4 p.m. and last roughly one hour.

The Rev. Steven L. Ullestad, bishop of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly, plans to speak about the trauma and grief of Postville’s Jewish and Christian communities in the aftermath of the raids.

“Our children, the children of all faiths and from all parts of the world, have experienced terror in a way that others outside of this community cannot imagine,” the bishop’s reflection states.

When the walk is complete, residents have planned a community dinner.

“It is our conviction that we cannot allow what happened in Postville to happen in any other town,” McCauley said. “We have to seek immigration reform. Our focus is on family unity, just legal practices and an end to raids.”

The Postville raid ended with nearly 400 meatpacking workers, most from either Guatemala or Mexico, in government custody. While the plea agreements signed by those detained were done swiftly and efficiently, the problems left behind in tiny Postville have lingered and grown.

Paul Rael, Hispanic lay minister for St. Bridget’s, has worked closely with the families directly impacted by the raid.

“For myself and the Response Team the work has changed very, very little since week one after the raid,” Rael said.

“It is hard for us to face every single day, because every single day brings in a new challenge. Every day we must face families that, obviously, are not permitted to work and are not permitted to leave the community.”

Although the numbers have decreased, there are still several individuals in the Postville community who exist only by charity. The current list includes 28 women outfitted with ankle tracking devices and 12 juveniles. Originally detained in the May 2008 immigration raid, most of these individuals were released back into the community on humanitarian grounds.

In addition, there are 41 former plant workers who are slated to serve as prosecution witnesses in the federal cases against plant management. While these witnesses are permitted to work, there is very little work to be found in beleagered Postville.

During the first four to six months following the raid, St. Bridget’s was expending roughly $80,000 per month to maintain the families left behind. Rael said he doesn’t have a firm figure that is being expended currently by the church, but that the cost remains “significant.”

The program and prayers being used by the Postville community for today’s vigil have been posted online for use by other communities who also wish to commemorate the anniversary.

Postville had been known as a unique community for years. Home to the Kosher meatpacking company Agriprocessors, Inc., the city had a diverse population of Orthodox Jews, immigrants from Latin American countries, and native Iowans. Though the city always grappled with its disparate constituencies, the May 12, 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at Agriprocessors changed things there forever.

News coverage of the raid generated more calls for comprehensive immigration reform from leaders across the country, but one open question remains: Will the experiences of Postville change things anywhere else?

Postville, a human face

Although ICE had been conducting work site immigration raids for years, the massive raid in tiny Postville struck an emotional chord with people who typically approached the discussion from opposite ends of the spectrum. (At the time, it was the largest single-site immigration raid in the nation’s history.)

Later in the summer, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus traveled to the town to see it firsthand. U.S. Rep. Tom Latham (R-Ames), whose district includes Postville, hoped it would be a chance for more leaders to see a real-world example of U.S. immigration policy.

“The members of the Hispanic Caucus will have seen firsthand, number one, the effect of the meatpacking plant owners and, what appears to be, them knowingly having illegal people working there,” Latham said in a July interview with Iowa Independent. “They will see the impact and the consequences of that. Most importantly to me, they are going to see how devastating this was to the families who have been torn apart — the human impact on these people.”

Three members of the federal delegation that visited Postville were noticeably moved by the stories they heard. U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, a California Democrat, rose from his chair, crossed the room and hugged one immigrant woman who shared her experiences. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat, said, “I know this in all aspects of my life: This is a human crisis.”

Several Iowans delivered testimony to Congress about the raids including local attorneys, a court-hired translator who assisted with the criminal prosecutions of detainees, religious leaders and U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Cedar Falls), whose district borders Postville.

But a year later, the possibility of comprehensive immigration reform is still distant. Braley recently admitted that despite his wishes to the contrary, he does not expect significant immigration reform to go before Congress anytime soon.

Indeed, despite a massive demonstration in Postville, visits from congressional leaders, hundreds of prayer vigils, local calls for comprehensive reform, a Beltway regime change, and pressure from the various odd-bedfellows now working in concert to make good on the lessons of Postville, there are few policy improvements to show for all the effort.

Questioning ‘assembly-line justice’

The one aspect of Postville’s story that does seem to be having a national impact relates to the way detainees are prosecuted after a raid has happened, and the fight is being waged in the courts, not in Congress.

Most detained Agriprocessors workers were charged with aggravated identity theft, a criminal violation that carried a two-year federal prison term. The workers, who knew little or no English, were offered mass-produced plea deals on a lesser charge that carried only a five-month prison term. Legal representation was provided by criminal defense attorneys, hired by the government, who were charged with representing 10 or more individuals.

Although immigration attorneys outside the make-shift courtroom in Waterloo complained that they were not being allowed access to the detainees, federal officials quickly responded that criminal complaints trump administration (immigration-only) offenses. Even as they fled to other states, panicked residents of Postville told stories of inhumane detainee treatment and spoke of residential immigration sweeps.

Days later, when 76 percent of the 389 detained workers had signed the plea deals, federal officials came out swinging.

“It is unfortunate that those with their own agenda have spread misinformation — ignoring the fact that 297 people admitted their crimes and accepted the consequences of their actions. There have been no checkpoints, no random checks, and no house-to-house sweeps as have been rumored,” said Matt Dummermuth, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

Claude Arnold, special agent in charge of ICE’s Office of Investigations, also derided “the usual spate of false allegations and baseless rumors.”

Perhaps because of the humanitarian public relations fiasco that encompassed an earlier immigration raid in Marshalltown, federal officials began mounting a defense at a press conference the day after the raid. It was first announced at that event that several detainees had been released back into the community. The move, which was initially welcomed by human rights advocates, would later become a primary example of government cruelty. The detainees, released back into Postville due to medical conditions or to care for children, could not legally earn a living. And, despite the swiftness of the earlier plea arrangements, the wheels of justice moved slow for those left in limbo.

The undeniably efficient criminal proceedings that took place in the days following the raid — plea deals that have been labeled as coerced by some who witnessed them — lit an immediate firestorm against an already tainted Department of Justice. Following oversight hearings in their U.S. House committees, U.S. Reps. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) spoke out against such expedited court proceedings, labeling them “a kangaroo court.”

“The assembly-line justice that we heard about today denies people the opportunity to assert asylum claims or get help if they were subjected to human trafficking or other forms of abuse,” Sánchez said.

Immigration advocates had high hopes when the new Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, announced that all raids would be ceased while her department crafted a new policy. But as information about the new policy comes to light, it is not clear that much has changed.

Still, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision calls into question many of the so-called “assembly line” convictions by narrowing the federal definition of aggravated identity theft. The court ruled unanimously that suspects must have knowingly used another person’s identity to be convicted of the aggravated crime.

Since most of the Postville workers signed plea agreements on lesser charges and waived their right to appeal, it is not known how many of their convictions will be revisited, though many were initially charged with the crime in question. Still, as Congress seems to wait for other issues to quiet down before tackling immigration, recognition of the lessons of Postville is welcome, no matter where it comes from.

Postville children sit in front of one of the homemade signs during the meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Just over 40 women, originally detained in the unprecedented May 12 immigration raid on the town’s kosher meatpacking plant, were released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement back into the town on humanitarian grounds to either care for children or for medical conditions. The women, along with three men similarly released, were fitted with ankle tracking devices. The Hispanic Caucus, all traveling at their own expense, came to eastern Iowa to hear their stories.

The congressional group was led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Democrat and chairman of the caucus’s immigration task force. He was joined by Rep. Joe Baca, a California Democrat and chairman of the caucus, and Rep. Albio Sires, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the caucus’s task force on economic development.

Although wearing one of the tracking devices, Rutila Becerra wasn’t one of the many scheduled speakers on the three-hour program. But when her emotions bubbled over, few needed an English translation to understand the frustration and sorrow her voice contained.

“These women have been here two months, waiting for a response from Immigration [and Customs Enforcement],” she said in an escalating voice as she began to cry. “Please be the voice of these women… who have been condemned to live by charity. We are suffering from psychological pain. We are suffering from depression, and all our little children are infected as well.”

Because the women entered the country without proper documentation, they cannot legally earn wages. Because the women have the ankle devices, they cannot leave. Des Moines immigration attorney Sonia Parras Konrad, who represents many who were in attendance at the meeting, said the federal government told her that it may be January 2009 before the women have a hearing and learn more about their fate.

Sister Mary McCauley, pastoral administrator for the region that includes St. Bridget’s Roman Catholic Church in Postville, offers a prayer to begin the visit by members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Members (from left) who came to Postville are Albio Sires of New Jersey, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Joe Baca of California.

“I couldn’t help myself. There is lots of talk, but no one is really a voice for us or knows what we are going through. We were in the middle of this meeting and I felt it right here,” Becerra said. “At that point I just couldn’t keep quiet any longer and it all just came out.”

She openly wept and her voice shook uncontrollably as she described her son discussing the tracking device and asking if she was a murderer. Her voice rose again and many others in the room wiped tears as she told how men would approach her as if she was a prostitute.

“They say that they know I need the money,” she said.

While the congressmen have all read the news stories and seen the videos of the raid — the largest single-site action in the nation’s history, Gutierrez said coming to Postville and hearing the stories in person was important.

“When I eat vegetables, I know who harvested those vegetables,” Gutierrez told those who gathered Saturday morning in the fellowship hall at St. Bridget’s Catholic Church in Postville. “When I eat fruit, I know who’s hands last touched that fruit. When I enter a business and I step on the floor, I know who was there at 1 or 2 in the morning to clean it. When I got to a hotel to sleep, I know who cleaned and arranged that room. I know this in all aspects of my life: This is a human crisis.”

Gutierrez’s indignation was more evident when he spoke in a more private setting after the meeting.

“What people need to understand is that they basically changed the whole processing system,” he said. “They charged [the detained workers] with aggravated criminal identity theft. Yet, there had not been one complaint made to any governmental agency from anyone about their identity being stolen or being misused.”

Baca, who was moved to walk across the room and hug one emotional woman after she told her story, said in an interview after the meeting that he believes the Department of Justice should keep digging.

“Let’s face it, it was a kangaroo court,” he said. “They came in here and they prosecuted individuals within days, but yet [the government] has not done anything to the one that was guilty — and that’s the Agriprocessors company. We need to haul them in. Prosecute them.”

Sires, who declined to say what he believes should happen to plant owners and upper members of management, described his shock at the testimony he heard in Postville.

“I have never in all my years — I’ve been in this country 44 years — I have never heard of any such thing,” he said. “I think if [the Department of Homeland Security] used Postville to send a message to people not to come to this country, I think that is going to backfire. I think that when they write the story of this decade and immigration and they document what ICE has done with this raid, with guns and with shackles — The only wrong thing these people did was trying to get a job and access the American dream.”

On Saturday three members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will visit with community leaders and families affected by the unprecedented May 12 immigration raid and take their findings back to Congress. On Sunday opposing viewpoints in the national immigration debate are expected to collide during a rally designed to call for comprehensive immigration reform.

“I wouldn’t say that we are anticipating trouble or violence,” said Postville Police Chief Michael Halse in a telephone interview Thursday evening. “But we realize that when you have two groups of people, each passionate about a message, there is a potential for conflict.”

Conservative estimates from individuals on both extremes of the debate have the town’s current population of 2,300 temporary swelling on Sunday to 3,300 or more. The numbers alone were enough for Halse to contact neighboring law enforcement agencies for assistance.

Halse said he’s spoken with both local and state agencies. To his knowledge, there will be no federal presence in Postville on Sunday.

“Our department hasn’t requested assistance from any federal agencies,” he said.

The rally comes nearly three months after an immigration raid at Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meatpacker and Postville’s largest employer. Nearly 400 workers were detained in the raid, most of them from Guatemala. Of those detained, 300 had pleaded guilty to criminal charges within 10 days. Since the raid, three members of middle management have been indicted. Two of those are remanded until a September trial date, but appealing that decision. The third has fled the jurisdiction.

The immigration reform rally will begin at St. Bridget's Catholic Church at 1 p.m. with a prayer vigil.

The rally, which was originally organized by Catholic and Jewish groups from Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, was advertised as a prayer vigil and march through the Postville community.

“[The rally] is a call for social justice,” said Sister Mary McCauley, pastoral administrator for the region that includes St. Bridget’s Roman Catholic Church in Postville. “This is a call to be faithful to our American and religious values.”

The Sunday rally, which was made public during a special City Council meeting when Paul Rael, director of the Hispanic Ministry at St. Bridget’s, requested permission from elected officials for the event. Since the vigil and subsequent march were planned on property that was either public or owned by the church, Rael was not required to obtain a permit. Organizing groups for the original rally are St. Bridget’s; Jewish Community Action of St. Paul, Minn.; and the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs of Chicago.

Gathering information and reporting the names of the organizations involved with the counter-rally hasn’t been as transparent a process.

The pro-enforcement rally is also scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Postville City Hall, roughly two blocks north of the church.

Since the City of Postville does not currently require waivers or permits for these types of gatherings, there are no documents registered with the city clerk. Halse, however, said that he has been contacted by two groups: St. Bridget’s and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Susan Tully, a national field director for FAIR, was a Thursday guest on the Jan Mickelson radio show and indicated that her group is planning a counter-rally. In addition a loose-knit blog coalition, Blogs for Borders, has been attempting to raise funds to send members into Postville on Sunday.

Tully, who did not respond to a media request from Iowa Independent, said in a prepared statement that her organization will be in Postville on Sunday “to show show that millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules applaud efforts to finally enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”

In the kitchen, Sister Mary McCauley, pastoral administrator for the region, stands next to the table and begins emptying a tote bag of notebooks, papers and the mail she picked up from the post office. Her eyes play briefly across the small envelope before she flips it and uses a finger to break the seal. One by one, she opens the few pieces of handwritten mail. Any checks inside the envelopes are placed in a stack on the table. In addition to the donations, most envelopes also contain personal notes. Without fail, she pauses to read each one, often smiling while doing so.

The nearly four weeks since the May 12 federal immigration raid at Agriprocessors have been difficult for the small Postville parish, which boasts about 100 members.

“We had been hearing rumors that there might be an immigration raid for a few days,” Sister McCauley, who serves parishes in McGregor and Monona in addition to St. Bridget’s in Postville, said as she recounted the day of the raid. “About 10 o’clock that morning I got a call and was told that it was no longer just a rumor and that the helicopters were here. I came and went to plant, although it was all blocked off. I remember talking to the chief of police and telling him that when the families were worried and concerned, he should tell them that they could come and connect with one another at the church. Well, as it turns out, they came and connected for six days.”

Although Sister McCauley laughed at the end of the statement, the initial situation, just in terms of physical space, was nearly overwhelming for the church.

“We have this little office here,” she said. “I thought we could allow people to come, see their friends, communicate with one another and answer a few questions. We had about 400 people here that first night.”

Many of those who came to the church were Guatemalan women and their children. The vast majority of those detained on possible immigration violations were men who served as their family’s backbone. The men and 48 women in federal custody had already been relocated to the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, more than an hour away by car.

“At first we just said, ‘Wow! What’s going on here?’ Then we realized that this was really needed,” she said. “The women, in particular, needed a place where they could let their anxiety level lower and be with people they knew. Many of the Guatemalan women had never been alone like that. They came with their little children, and they worried what they would do if one became sick. Their husbands had always been the family member that interacted within the community in those situations. So they had to be with one another, and we knew that being together would finally empower them to get back to their apartments.

“Each day we would kind of say: ‘We’ve been together. We’ve played together. We’ve prayed together. We’ve been nourished together. You are getting stronger. ICE is gone. You can do it.’ As we saw them gaining more and more strength from one another, we would talk to some of the community leaders and let them know that if they took steps to leave the church and get back into their own homes, the others would follow their example.”

When those taking refuge in the church did return to their own homes, the church and its congregation knew its role had changed, but was not complete.

“That first week? I refer to it as sandbagging,” Sister McCauley said. “The river was overflowing and we had to make an immediate response, which was food, shelter and presence. Then the river was beginning to lower, but things had been destroyed. Lives had been shattered. We still had a lot of cleanup to do.”

“Cleanup” has been an administrative response that includes financial, medical and legal assistance, as well as continuing to be a “compassionate presence” within the community. Last week the church hosted a legal clinic that provided residents access to about 15 immigration attorneys. Those who wished to speak to an attorney were given opportunity for private discussions that Sister McCauley hopes provided the people of Postville some direction as they move forward. The most pressing need, however, remains monetary.

“I’m here today and I was here every afternoon last week … approving bills for payment,” she said. “If someone comes to me with a rent or a utility bill — first of all, we’ve done intake interviews, so we know the status of the family and any money that might be coming in. For most of the families that amount is is absolutely zero. There has to be a decision on how much of a rent bill, for instance, we can pay. Rent bills range from $400 to $1,000.”

Sister McCauley’s eyes turned again to the pile of roughly 10 personal checks on the table. The church is currently helping about 120 people, but volunteers are well aware that there are others within the community that have not yet come for assistance. As news and pictures of the immigration raid have faded from the headlines, donations have dwindled.

“If you take the rent amounts and multiply them by the 120 we are serving, you can see that what we take in doesn’t go very far,” she said. “The current need is just tremendous, and we know that there will be future needs for legal assistance and other items like that.”

Sister McCauley said she’s been asked many times how the raid and its aftermath have affected the community and the congregation.

“I’ve thought about it and there are two words that describe it. This has shattered us, and it has strengthened us,” she said. When she opened her mouth to continue, at first no words came. Her eyes filled with tears, and she apologized as she reached into her pocket for a well-worn tissue. Her voice was soft but also resolute when she continued.

“When I say ’shattered,’ I mean that it shattered the families. It shattered the children who were running around and asking, ‘Where is my mother?’ or ‘Where is my father?’ Then there are the poor mothers who are left to care for their children. What is she going to do? How is she going to get back to Mexico? She doesn’t have any money. Should she go back? Should she remain? She is wondering how long her husband is going to be in jail. So, they are shattered, they are afraid, and they are filled with anxiety.

“At the same time, they have found strength and love, and they are giving it to one another. Our St. Bridget’s community and the Postville community and, really, the entire United States community have given strength. When we receive a letter, for example, from Los Angeles, that says that the writer is praying for us, with us, supporting us and concerned about us, then we know that we can go on another day.”

Readers wanting to contact the church should address mail to: St. Bridget’s Hispanic Ministry, St. Bridget’s Church, P.O. Box 369, Postville, IA 52162. Any donation checks should be made out to St. Bridget’s Hispanic Ministry.