Monday, May 12, 2008

12 May 2008 (IA) Four Homeland Security buses with U.S. Immigration and Customs tags on them have entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex. The buses, along with a trail of SUVs and vans with Minnesota license plates, arrived at about 11:45 a.m. Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman, declined to confirm where people who are arrested will be detained. Federal officials have leased the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, but they declined to explain last week whether the property was being prepared for use as a detention center.


Fearing raid, immigration-rights activists meet in Waterloo

11 May 2008 Several Iowa immigration-rights activists gathered today at a Waterloo church and the home of a local social worker to discuss what they consider to be an impending immigration raid. The discussions were prompted by federal officials' lease last week of the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. Local immigration-rights activists fear the fairgrounds will be used as a detention center.

Questions Surround Homeland Security's Presence in Waterloo
--Many people in Waterloo believe the site is being transformed into a detention center. 09 May 2008 People in Waterloo are trying to figure out what sort of operation federal officials are conducting in town. This week, the Department of Homeland Security took-over and sealed-off the grounds of the National Cattle Congress on the west side of Waterloo. Thursday night, our crew went to investigate, but security guards told them to stay across the street from the property. Our camera caught pictures of elaborate ventilation systems going into the buildings. There were dozens of cars coming in and out with license plates from surrounding states, and even as far away as Georgia and Texas. A guard at the gate told us they are preparing for training exercises, but a Homeland Security spokesman would not confirm that. Many people in Waterloo believe the site is being transformed into a detention center.

A once ailing private-prison sector is now a revenue maker

12 May 2008 "The private prison industry was on the verge of bankruptcy in the late 1990s, until the feds bailed them out with the immigration-detention contracts," said Michele Deitch, an expert on prison privatization with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. As increasingly tough immigration laws have called for the detention and deportation of ever more immigrants [and soon-to-be bird flu vaccine refuseniks], the demand for bed space by immigration authorities has helped turn what was once a dying business into a multibillion-dollar industry with record revenue and stock prices several times higher than they were eight years ago. In San Diego, CCA [Corrections Corporation of America] is in the permitting process to build a nearly 3,000-bed facility that the company hopes will be used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. It would hold more than four times the detainees held in San Diego now.

Up to 700 arrests estimated in Iowa immigration raid...

53 illegals held against will in Phoenix...

Iowa meatpacking plant subject of immigration raid
Brownfield, MO - 44 minutes ago
There had been speculation about a pending raid after the federal government leased the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, boarded up windows in ...

Radio Iowa
Immigration raid at Postville plant
Radio Iowa, IA - 1 hour ago
There had been speculation about a pending raid after the federal government leased the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, boarded up windows in ...
Immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville KGAN
Immigration officials descend on Postville plant DesMoinesRegister.com
Update: Hundreds of arrests predicted at Iowa ICE raid DesMoinesRegister.com
DesMoinesRegister.com
all 20 news articles »

Cattle Congress becomes home to government training exercise
Chicago Tribune, United States - May 4, 2008
AP WATERLOO, Iowa - The federal government has leased out nearly the entire National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in eastern Iowa for a training exercise ...
Immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville
Chicago Tribune, United States - 29 minutes ago
The raid comes after Immigration rights activists said they feared the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo may have been converted into a ...
Workers, advocates gird for raid
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - 9 hours ago
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman has declined to comment on activities at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds, which has been leased ...
US lease of Waterloo fairgrounds raises questions
DesMoinesRegister.com, IA - May 6, 2008
By WILLIAM PETROSKI • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • May 6, 2008 Federal officials have imposed a news blackout at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in ...
Activists Worried About Immigration Raid in Waterloo
KCRG, IA - 1 hour ago
Discussions were prompted by an announcement last week that federal officials have leased the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo. ...
ICE activity at NCC sparks fear among Latinos
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, IA - May 8, 2008
By JENS MANUEL KROGSTAD, Courier Staff Writer WATERLOO --- The presence of immigration officials at National Cattle Congress has stoked fears of an ...
EVENTS: What's happening across North Iowa and beyond
Mason City Globe Gazette, IA - Apr 16, 2008
... Waterloo office, 329 E. Fourth St. For information, call 319-291-2038. The Agriculture Building, National Cattle Congress Grounds, 257 Ansborough Ave. ...



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