September 18, 2008
Deportations affecting child-labor proceedings
By TONY LEYS
tleys@dmreg.com
Waukon, Ia. - The state's child-labor case against leaders of Agriprocessors could be complicated by the fact that some of the alleged victims have been deported before they could testify or be cross-examined, a defense lawyer said here Wednesday.
"We have some serious concerns that some of these folks aren't even in the country anymore," lawyer F. Montgomery Brown told a magistrate.
Some of the purported underage workers were swept up in an immigration raid at the Postville meatpacking plant in May.
Brown represents Sholom Rubashkin, who ran Agriprocessors for years. He is one of five people charged last week with thousands of misdemeanor charges of employing minors in the plant. The others are his father, Aaron Rubashkin, who owns the plant, and human resources managers Elizabeth Billmeyer, Laura Althouse and Karina Freund.
All entered written not-guilty pleas. None appeared at the initial hearing Wednesday at the Allamakee County Courthouse.
Deputy Attorney General Thomas H. Miller promised to provide the names of the alleged victims to the defense lawyers as soon as possible.
He said after the hearing that his office shares the defense's concern about lawyers' access to the alleged victims. He said a few were deported shortly after the raid.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/NEWS/809180377/1001/NEWS
