POSTVILLE - During a town hall meeting called Tuesday to scrutinize Sen. Tom Harkin's recommendation of Stephanie Rose for U.S. district attorney, aides to the senator said he would soon visit Postville.

The discussion came on the heels of heated debate over the role Rose, a 13-year veteran prosecutor in the Northern District, played in planning court proceedings in facilities set up at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo immediately following a May 2008 federal immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville.

Organizers invited Rose to Tuesday's meeting, but no one from the district court attended. Court spokesman Bob Teig declined to comment.

Ethical and constitutional concerns have been raised over proceedings at NCC, where a temporary court processed 389 detained workers in four days.

Harkin's aides vigorously defended the senator's selection of Rose. They said Rose played no role in the planning of the raid, the decision for an expedited legal process at NCC or what charges to file. They promised she will be a "different kind of prosecutor."

Postville has yet to recover from the raid, at the time the largest in history. More than a year later, the once-thriving town suffers high unemployment and a ruined housing market.

Postville's faith leaders asked Harkin to come to Posville sometime in the next year. His aides proposed a Harkin visit in the coming months.

The senator's aides made the commitment after some of Postville leaders questioned the Democratic senator's dedication to immigration and child labor reform. They said eradicating child labor around the globe has been a life-long pursuit of the senator and added Postville perfectly illustrates the need to change immigration law.

"Yet he has never visited. Why won't he appear here in Postville?" said Rockne Cole, an Iowa City attorney who has advocated for immigrants arrested in the raid.

Cole, who refused to serve as a public defender when he learned he might defend more than three dozen clients at a time, then asked about 50 people in the room to stand up and raise their hands if they wanted Harkin to visit. They all stood, their arms in air.

"Thank you for coming," Cole told the aides, "But we want Sen. Harkin here."

In defending Rose, Harkin aides said six attorneys in the Northern District planned the prosecutions - three career attorneys, U.S. Attorney Matt Dummermuth, an assistant district attorney and the criminal division head - while Rose worked as a lead national prosecutor on cases involving the sale of illegal drugs on the Internet.

"Sen. Harkin truly believes she will be a terrific U.S. Attorney committed to notions of justice, due process and equal protection," said Harkin legal aide Dan Goldberg.

Yet some of the town's leaders questioned why she has not spoken out against a process that has been roundly criticized in the legal community and among immigrant advocates.

"What role did she play in publicly expressing her disgust with this process?" Cole said.

In an interview with the Courier in April, Rose said executing the massive operation required amazing efforts and a "ton of good work."

Immigrant's stories

Several immigrants arrested in last year's raid spoke about their experiences, which Postville's faith leaders said painted a grim picture of the legal rights they were afforded.

Gerardo Solovi, 17, said he worked at least 60 hours every week at the plant. After his arrest, he said attorneys never made an effort to investigate if he was a victim of child labor, which might qualify him for a special visa that allows him to stay in the country.

Jesus Loera said at NCC he was bound in five-point shackles that did not allow him to raise his hands far above his belly button. As a result, he had trouble eating and drinking the food provided to him.

"We were shackled and couldn't bring our hands to our mouths," he said.

Lara Castillo served five months in jail after signing a plea agreement she said she didn't understand.

Castillo said her mother, who lives in Tallahassee, Fla., kept an e-mail that said she was supposed to be released on Oct. 10. But on that day, her mother was notified the state of Iowa had detained her.

Castillo said she was transferred to a cell where she spent entire days by herself, didn't shower for 11 days and could not place a call to anyone for a month.

"I'd like to see a document I signed that allowed them to keep me here an extra month," she said, referring to the plea agreement she signed.