America First:
The Legacy of an immigration raid
In 2008, Postville, a small town in Iowa, suffered one the largest immigration raids at a worksite in U.S. history: 389 immigrants were arrested in the biggest kosher meatpacking plant in the country. As Donald Trump revived some aspects of George W. Bush’s immigration enforcement policies, the Postville experience sheds light on the impact, efficiency and the personal repercussions of massive worksite raids.
Role: Co-director, co-producer and co-editor.
Jorge was arrested during the 2008 Postville raid. His wife and daughters returned to Guatemala after they didn’t hear from him in days. They later reunited in their home country after Jorge’s deportation.
Jeidy was the only daughter of Jorge and Maribel who was born in the United States. After returning to Guatemala because of the raid, her parents decided to send Jeidy back to the US to live with family friends for a better education. They have not see each other in years.