Swift raid documentary to premiere during DNC

The local United Food and Commercial Workers Union is planning to show a documentary movie on the first day of the Democratic National Convention examining the aftermath of the Swift & Co. immigration raids that took place in Greeley and other cities across the nation in 2006.

On Monday, Aug. 25, the union will be sponsoring a private premiere screening of the film inside the Colorado History Museum at 7:30 p.m.

The documentary was filmed by Little Voice Productions, a nonprofit group that works on a variety of social justice causes:

Through this engaging character driven film, we will examine the Swift & Company raids and take a close look at the town of Greeley, Colorado. When it comes to immigration, Greeley is a snapshot of the country. Our documentary will follow the stories of several illegal immigrants, as we examine why they are here and what hopes they have for the American dream.

Following the movie, there will also be a panel discussion on the affects of the raid in Greeley. Panelists include Jim Ryan with the Colorado Council of Churches, Julien Ross with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, immigration attorney Jeff Joseph and Rich Jones with the Bell Policy Center.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.