Rights activists protest immigrant arrests in Iowa

Last update: May 17, 2008 - 7:19 AM

A group of about 50 immigrant rights activists rallied in south Minneapolis Friday afternoon to protest the arrest of nearly 400 people at a kosher meatpacking plant in northeast Iowa this week.

At least 390 people were detained on immigration charges at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville on Monday.

Protesters chanted and waved signs with messages such as "No More Raids" and "Proud to Be Immigrant" at the intersection of E. Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue, the heart of a heavily Hispanic neighborhood in Minneapolis.

The arrests were a "gross violation of human rights," Erika Zurawski of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition said at the rally. Most of those arrested are from Guatemala and Mexico, though some are from Ukraine and Israel.

Volunteers are seeking donations of cash, nonperishable food, baby formula, calling cards and other items to help the detained families. They're collecting items today from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in a second-floor office above the grocery story La Mexicana at the northwest corner of Lake and Bloomington.

Call the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network at 651-287-0660 for more information.

Sarah Lemagie