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IA health bill excludes child illegals Thousands more Iowa children will be eligible for public health insurance under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Iowa Gov. Chet Culver. The bill, Senate File 389, broadens eligibility for Hawk-I, the joint federal and state insurance program for children from moderate-income families. Starting July 1, families could make 300 percent of the federal poverty level - or about $64,000 per year for a family of four - and remain eligible for the program. The limit now is 250 percent of poverty. The Des Moines Register (IA)

IA union rep wins appeal of immigration convictions A Marshalltown union official who was convicted of helping illegal immigrants has won an appeal of the case and probably will not be retried. Braulio Pereyra-Gabino was charged in the... IA meatpacking exec facing new charges Federal prosecutors have charged a former Postville meatpacking plant executive with 70 new immigration charges, according to a indictment made public Friday. Sholom Rubashkin and Agriprocessors Inc. now face 71... Illegals caught in IA raid get work visas Postville, IA (AP) -- Twenty former workers at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville have received visas under a law that protects crime victims. The first wave of women and...

More Iowa Immigration News

IA activist driven by mother's death

Margaret Heintz sputtered in frustration. 'There's nothing we can do,' the Marshalltown, Iowa, woman said to her daughter, Mona Kilborn, when they talked about their shared point of aggravation -- illegal immigrants. 'Mom, you can do something,' Kilborn said. 'You...
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Charges against IA union rep dismissed

Des Moines (AP) -- Federal prosecutors have dismissed charges against a former union representative at the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown. The U.S. attorney's office filed a motion to dismiss the case against Braulio Pereyra-Gabino on Monday and...
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Activists mark first anniversary of IA raid

Postville, IA (AP) -- Hundreds gathered in the small northeast Iowa town of Postville on Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of a huge immigration raid and reflect on the community's difficulty in recovering from the arrests. After a prayer...
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IA meatpacker raids still a flashpoint

Postville, Iowa -- If there is an epicenter in the shifting, emotionally charged debate over U.S. immigration policy, it is here, amid some of the richest soil on Earth. That alluvial black dirt nurtures corn, beef cattle, chickens and turkeys,...
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Some charges to be dropped in IA case

Federal prosecutors are moving to drop some of the charges against the former executive of the Postville Agriprocessors plant. Monday, the government filed a motion to dismiss a portion of the charges against Sholom Rubashkin and another former employee. The...
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IA restaurant owner deported to Ecuador

An Ankeny restaurant owner who came to the United States illegally 22 years ago was deported Friday, in spite of protests from his family members and supporters. Riggoberto Ochoa, 38, a co-owner of Yanni's Grill & Vineyard restaurants in Ankeny...
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IA amnesty activists plan protest

Several hundred immigration-reform supporters plan to gather in Postville on Tuesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the federal raid on the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant. Scores of federal agents raided the plant last May 12 and arrested nearly 400 immigrant...
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IA Dem senator lends approval to SCOTUS decision

If last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling had come a year earlier, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin believes the federal prosecutions that followed May 2008 immigration enforcement action in Postville would have been quite different. 'I am glad that the Supreme...
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Two Iowa towns diverge on enforcement

Postville, IA (AP) -- For immigrant advocates, the raid on a meatpacking plant in Postville last May was evidence of all that is wrong with large-scale arrests of illegal workers. Families were hurt, and empty shops and lines at the...
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IA meatpacker asks for dismissal of charges

Des Moines, IA -- The attorney for Sholom Rubashkin is asking the court to dismiss 20 counts against the former Postville meatpacking plant manager. Rubashkin is named in a 79-count indictment, charging him with federal immigration, bank fraud and money...
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IA Rep rips administration on issue

Western Iowa Congressman Steve King continues to be vocal in expressing his displeasure with some of the policies of the new president. This week the conservative Republican King issued a statement attacking Democrat Obama's current and potential immigration reform plans....
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IA slaughterhouse management pleads guilty

Des Moines, IA (AP) -- A former human resources manager arrested after a massive immigration raid at an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse has pleaded guilty to federal immigration charges. On Monday, Elizabeth Billmeyer, of Postville, pleaded guilty Monday to one count...
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IA senator's U.S. Attorney nominee faces opposition for role in raid

Critics of last year's immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville are opposing Senator Tom Harkin's nominee for U.S. District Attorney. Stephanie Rose is Harkin's nominee for the office, but some attorneys say the senator should investigate the role...
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IA meat plant supervisor jailed for role in illegal hires

Des Moines (AP) -- A supervisor arrested after a massive immigration raid at a kosher slaughterhouse was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Thursday for his part in hiring illegal immigrants. The Associated Press...
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