Believe In America.com

butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2271

(AP) Grand Island, Neb. Sandra Sanchez is waiting for her husband's appearance before an immigration judge in April before she decides on whether she will move to Mexico with her daughter and son.

She's hoping her husband can somehow emerge from a federal detention center in Atlanta and reunite with the children in Grand Island, Neb. so the kids can remain in the city's public schools.

The couple's son and daughter are two of 61 students in Grand Island Public Schools who had at least one parent arrested in the Dec. 12 immigration raid of the local Swift & Co. meatpacking plant, according to district officials.

The 261 arrests in Grand Island were part of a wide-ranging raid of Swift plants in six states by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

A total of 1,282 alleged illegal workers were arrested. Raids also were conducted in Greeley, Colo.; Hyrum, Utah; Cactus, Texas; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.

School districts in those cities said they experienced a sharp drop in attendance immediately following the raids.

Grand Island Superintendent Steve Joel said 25 students in his district were left without both parents after the raid. All were taken in by other relatives, according to district official Kerri Nazarenus.

District officials said many parents arrested in the raid have yet to go to court, and their families probably won't decide whether they'll stay in Grand Island while their cases are pending.

"We won't truly know what numbers we're going to lose until court appearances are finalized," said Brad Wentzlaff, principal of Lincoln Elementary School. "Once those court appearances come, those families will have to make those decisions."

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http://wcco.com/local/local_story_043160427.html