The New York Times tells these men's stories today. They may have never thought much about our country's immigration system before, but after witnessing the destruction that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies cause to families and basic American ideals of justice, they refused to stay silent.

Erik Camayd-Freixas was contracted by the government to interpret for migrant workers who were arrested and detained last month when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Agriprocessors, Inc., meatpacking plant in Postville. Nearly 400 workers were detained at the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, Iowa, and subjected to quick hearings in makeshift courtrooms. Within a week, many signed a government-prepared plea agreement, in which they pled guilty to charges of Social Security fraud and agreed to be deported without an immigration trial after serving five months in prison on the criminal charges. As Camayd-Freixas interpreted for groups of men and women who were shackled and paraded in and out of the courtroom, he began to question his participation in the proceedings. Later, when he realized during attorney-client meetings that most of the workers did not understand the plea agreement they were encouraged to sign, or even what a Social Security card is, Camayd-Freixas debated whether to bow out of the assignment. He ultimately decided to stay on as a witness to what he determined was a miscarriage of justice.

And then he went to the press with a 14-page essay in which he reveals the details of what he saw.

The Times story discusses the risk Camayd-Freixas took by breaking the code of confidentiality typically maintained by legal interpreters. According to the newspaper, debate is now raging among members of the profession about whether Camayd-Freixas's decision to speak out was ethical. But Camayd-Freixas's essay provided important information about what happened at Waterloo that would have been otherwise barred from public view. It has raised serious questions about how justice was carried out in Postville, and may even inspire a hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary immigration subcommittee. 

Another Times story features Rev. Paul Ouderkirk, a 75-year-old retired priest who in his final years of working nurtured a growing migrant community who had come to Postville to work at the Agriprocessors plant. Since the Postville raid, Ouderkirk has left retirement behind in order to manage a relief effort for families in the town's St. Bridget's parish:

During his earlier tenure at parishes in North Texas and Marshalltown, Iowa, Father Ouderkirk had experienced immigration raids twice before, but never on this scale. By the second day, he had moved back into his bedroom in the rectory.

 

"It's like God saying, ‘I gave you a little practice,' because this is the worst," Father Ouderkirk said in an interview late last month at St. Bridget's. "This has happened after 10 years of stable living. These people were in school. They were achieving. It has ripped the heart out of the community and out of the parish. Probably every child I baptized has been affected. To see them stunned is beyond belief."

The Times reports that Ouderkirk has hired four temporary staff to manage the distribution of food and financial support among the families who have been affected, and he expects the parish to spend $500,000 on relief efforts.

Ouderkirk and Camayd-Freixas are not alone in their reaction to the raid. Postville families whose ancestors settled in the area more than 100 years ago have been active in St. Bridget's relief effort. And Camayd-Freixas's essay reveals he was not the only interpreter who struggled during the grueling days of work at the cattle grounds:

We began week two Monday, May 19th. Those interpreters who left after the first week were spared the sentencing hearings that went on through Thursday. Those who came in fresh the second week were spared the jail visits over the weekend. Those of us who stayed both weeks came back from the different jails burdened by a close personal contact that judges and prosecutors do not get to experience: each individual tragedy multiplied by 306 cases. One of my colleagues began the day by saying "I feel a tremendous solidarity with these people." Had we lost our impartiality? Not at all: that was our impartial and probably unanimous judgment.

Be sure to watch The Times' video interview with Camayd-Freixas about the post-raid court proceedings and why he decided to speak out.

Donations to the St. Bridget's Postville relief effort can be sent to:

St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry Fund
c/o Sister Mary McCauley
PO Box 369
Postville, Iowa 52162