Choosing Which Laws To Obey
There are a multitude of stories in the news now regarding the state of the State in Iowa. The Candidates for President are headed that way, and so the Media is looking for fodder.
The most interesting report I have read thus far regards the town of Postville. (The Lookout, a Yahoo News blog, “Years after immigration raid, Iowa town feels poorer and less stable”, by Liz Goodwin)
This improbably diverse rural town of about 2,000 people in northeastern Iowa suffered a near-fatal shock more than three years ago when a federal immigration raid scooped up 20 percent of its population in a single day. An ultra-Orthodox Lubavitcher Jewish family from Brooklyn bought the town’s defunct meatpacking plant in 1987 and attracted workers from Israel, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. The plant became the largest producer of kosher beef in the world. When the plant was raided one spring morning in May 2008, most of the workers on shift were Guatemalan and Mexican, and undocumented. Many workers later said they had been physically or sexually abused at the plant, and at least 57 minors were illegally employed there, some as young as 13.
The narrative goes on and on about how the town had been a haven for “illegals,” stores and restaurants, new homes and businesses were all prospering – until the raid. Now, “illegals” mostly don’t come, and if they do they don’t stay long, and the town is suffering. One gets the impression from the narrative that it was “much better” before someone decided to enforce the law.
Today, the meatpacking plant, under new ownership, uses the federal e-verify system to check workers’ immigration status. The hourly wage on the poultry line is higher than it was before the raid, but few Iowan-born locals work there. Ridding this small community of its illegal workforce, far from freeing up jobs for American-born citizens, has resulted in closed businesses and fewer opportunities. Even nearly four years later, many homes still remain empty, and taxable retail sales are about 40 percent lower than they were in 2008.
In order to staff its still low-paying jobs with legal immigrants, the new owner of the plant has recruited a hodgepodge of refugees and other immigrants, who often leave the town as soon as they find better opportunities, creating a constant churn among the population. The switch to a legal work force has made the community feel less stable, some locals say, and it’s unclear if Postville will again become a place where immigrants will put down roots, raise children, and live in relative harmony with their very different neighbors.
I know Believers who exercise the same kind of thinking regarding the Truth of God’s Word. Some are comfortable with this or that Truth, but not with others, so they are ignored. They are falsely led to believe they have a “better” life. Such foolishness ultimately allows for all sorts of problems. The parallel is striking.