New revelations from former child workers uncover the full story behind the immigration raids at Agriprocessor plant that thrust the small US town of Postville under national spotlights. Statements from underage girls describe the dangerous working conditions at the kosher meat-packing factory which was raided by Iowa state Immigration authorities on May 12 this year.

Seventeen year old Luisa Lopez was one of the girls who had been working at the factory at the time of the raid. She claims that she had never been asked about her age when she was given the job. Neither did anyone show her how to use the perilously-long scissors in cutting meat. Under Iowa law, no one less than eighteen years is allowed to work in meat packing plant floors.

On May 12, State Immigration authorities raided the Agriprocessors plant at Postville, where they found dozens of underage workers employed in flagrant violation of the state’s labor law. The raid also led to the arrest of 389 undocumented workers and created a record for the largest number of arrests in a single-site enforcement effort. The Agriprocessors plant is the largest kosher meat packing factory in the country and one of the biggest employers of this small town in Northeastern Iowa.

-Kalyani Mookherji