Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America’s Children
church-based organizing group, facilitated the first meeting at Our Lady of Peace and continued to work with the church to provide services to affected families. CBC also connected the media with affected families so that they could tell their stories. Greeley benefited from its proximity to the Denver area, where immigration lawyers, two consulates (Mexico and Guatemala), a large Latino community, and other resources are located. Greeley did not have experience with a prior raid, however, and the community was deeply divided over county government plans to petition ICE to open an office in town. Moreover, one of the worst snowstorms in years hit the area about one week following the raid, which greatly complicated service provision during this critical period. The Swift plant’s donation and United Way coordination drove most of the relief efforts in Greeley. As in Grand Island, Swift donated about $60,000 to United Way, predicated on the condition that the money be spent only on families with arrested employees. Swift also forwarded a list of arrested immigrants to United Way, which in turn coordinated the relief effort through a local nonprofit service provider – in this case, Catholic Charities. United Way provided another $25,000 raised through other sources. Catholic Charities branches in the Denver area provided additional sources of funding. In total, about $200,000 was raised; $140,000 in excess of the Swift seed grant and far above the total amount available in Grand Island. Catholic Charities served 96 families and more than 200 children. Families were allocated $500 each at the start of the process, but the cap was raised by several hundred dollars as families came back during the second, third, and fourth months after the raid for assistance. Some families received assistance with rent and mortgage payments as high as $1,200. Rent and mortgage assistance was the single-largest item; more than $70,000 was spent on assisting 90 families during the four months following the raids. More than $7,000 of the United Way funding was spent on food, coordinated through the local food bank. Our Lady of Peace distributed more than $12,000 in gift cards for use at local grocery stores, some of which were funded out of the United Way/Catholic Charities pool and some of which were donated by the stores. Immediately following the raid, United Way organized services through Catholic Charities, the local food bank, and a toll-free (211) number. They used the 211 system which had been effective in previous disaster assistance efforts, for instance the response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Following the workplace raid in Greeley, however, this system was not as effective. There were not that many calls to the toll-free number, and not very much assistance was disbursed during the first month following the raid.
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