On Wednesday, March 10th at 7 PM, St. Ambrose University will host the Iowa Premiere of the documentary In the Shadow of the Raid, a bi-lingual film following the experiences of the Guatemalan community impacted by the immigration raid in Postville, Iowa.
The biggest immigration raid in US history, with arrests of nearly 400 undocumented workers, severed an economic lifeline to one of the poorest corners of the Western Hemisphere while pushing an Iowa farm town to the brink of collapse.
A panel discussion with the filmmakers and Postville relief workers will follow the premiere. The event is free and open to the public. Spanish Interpretation will be available. St. Ambrose University, Rogalski Center Ballroom, located near Lombard St. and Harrison in Davenport, Iowa.
About the film
On May 12, 2008, immigration officials stormed a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, arresting nearly 400 undocumented workers in one of the biggest roundups in U.S. history.
Supporters of the raid celebrated it as a law enforcement victory while immigrant rights groups slammed it as draconian.
Meanwhile up a winding dirt road, a poor Guatemalan village was dying, and so was Postville itself.
The raid severed an economic lifeline linking the heart of the United States to one of the poorest corners of the Western Hemisphere, with an impact as far-reaching and catastrophic as any earthquake or hurricane.
However, this is not just another tale of misery in a far-off land. Postville itself was a boomtown before the raid — a rare exception in a part of rural America that has been emptying out as the changing economics of agriculture alter the social landscape. Now it is on the brink of economic collapse after losing much of its population and its main employer — all in the middle of the worst recession in decades.
For more information about the film, to help any of the people featured in it, or to buy a copy, or to organize a screening, please email [email protected]
About the Film Makers
Streetdog Media is the Mexico City-based multimedia production company of journalists Greg Brosnan and Jennifer Szymaszek, makers of the documentary ‘In the Shadow of the Raid’.
Brosnan and Szymaszek are freelance video producers for The New York Times. Brosnan has also been a print journalist for Reuters in New York, Guatemala and Mexico, and more recently has written for publications including Business Week and The Houston Chronicle. Szymaszek is also a freelance photojournalist, working mainly for The New York Times.
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