Racial profiling in Worthington

The INS raids on meat-packing plants across the country have made the news. The coverage has been confusing, often implying that all the people detained were undocumented workers? This is not true: many hundreds of people were handcuffed and detained simply for being Latino, regardless of their citizenship or resident status. The result of the raid was chaos for hundreds of families, and the most vulnerable victims were the children who were left behind, at school, at home, with babysitters. Many good people stepped up to help out: schools, shelters, neighbors, volunteers. There has been an outpouring of aid and support, but the impact of the raids on the town has been damaging to all: creating suspicion where none is justified, disrupting school, commerce, and the lives of families and neighborhoods. The Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network is one of many organizations coordinating legal aid, donations, and comfort to families affected by this unconstitutional police action.
Here are some pictures (courtesy of Diego Perez Velez and the MN Immigrant Freedome Network).
The Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network and New-Minnesotans have also generously shared their experieces in these video interviews. A shout-out to alondra for all her hard work on behalf of the families who are suffering now because the wage-earner has lost a job.