Immigration raid takes bite out of nation's kosher-meat supply
By Grant Schulte and Tony Leys
USA TODAY
November 16, 2008
POSTVILLE, Iowa — Financial problems at the company that was the target of one of the largest immigration raids in U.S. history have triggered a shortage of kosher meat and raised prices nationwide.
Six months have passed since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided Agriprocessors kosher-meat plant here on May 12 and detained 389 illegal immigrant workers. The company's beef operation has ceased operating and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past week.
The aftermath, observers say, has disrupted the kosher-meat supply and threatened the town's future.
"This town would be in a world of hurt if that plant closed," said Jeff Mott, owner of a local hardware store.
Agriprocessors, which revealed in its bankruptcy filing that it owes between $50 million and $100 million to creditors, provided about 60% of the nation's kosher meat, according to Joe Regenstein, a food-science professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Prices, as a result, have risen, he said.
The filing shows the largest debt to a single creditor is the $845,000 owed to Jacobson Staffing Co. of Des Moines, which initially helped provided replacement staffing, but withdrew its workers for lack of payment.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-12-raidsixmonthslater_N.htm
