Washington, May 12 - Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) today released the following statement in response to reports of a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at Agriprocessors, Inc, in Postville, Iowa:

“My immediate thoughts are with the families impacted by today’s events.  In Postville there are hundreds of children whose lives have been changed because of this raid, and in the wake of the December 2006 Swift Company raid, I want to make sure their well-being is a priority.  

“If people have broken the law, there should be consequences.  There’s a legal system in place to determine those consequences, and justice should be fairly imposed with due process. 

“I’ll be interested to see if federal authorities will be bringing any charges against the employer.  We know that the Swift Company never faced any charges after the raid in Marshalltown, and the enforcement of immigration violations against corporations has plummeted during the Bush administration.  Until we enforce our immigration laws equally against both employers and employees who break the law, we will continue to have a problem with immigration.”