Immigrant Workers in New Orleans Start Leaving
| AR Articles on Hispanic Immigrants |
|---|
| The Myth of Hispanic Family Values (March 2004) |
| Our Mexican Future (Mar. 2003) |
| Reconquista Update (Jan. 2002) |
| Pushing Out Whitey (Mar. 2000) |
| Documenting the Decline (Jan. 2000) |
| Closed Minds are an Open Book (August 1998) |
| Search AmRen.com for Hispanic Immigrants |
| More news stories on Hispanic Immigrants |
Josue Vega was one of thousands of immigrant workers who flocked to New Orleans in 2005 in hopes of finding a rebuilding job in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
He worked seven days a week and earned more than twice his normal earnings. But with work now down to three days a week, the 20-year-old is planning to go home to Honduras.
“My goal is to be here until November, and then never come back,” he said. “I’ve had enough.”
The stops and starts of the post-Katrina rebuilding effort, often due to bureaucratic delays in funding, still provided plenty of work to rebuild homes and businesses. But reconstruction work has slowed as projects are completed or transition to phases requiring highly specialized skills.
{snip}
Workers still cluster outside Home Depot and Lowe’s hoping a contractor will hire them. But they say their gathering spots have become targets for undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who hold up the prospect of day’s pay as bait.
“They come in vans like they’re contractors,” said Walter Ortiz, 32.
ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez wouldn’t confirm sting operations, but said “ICE conducts targeted enforcement actions based on intelligence and investigative leads in both criminal and administrative cases.”
New Orleans prohibits people from asking for work on the street but enforcement was relaxed because the city recognized “the important contributions of these laborers,” said Lisa Ponce de Leon, the city’s director of international relations.
Deportations have increased 156 percent since 2005, when 3,962 immigrants were deported, to 9,749 deportations in 2007, according to ICE.
Five immigrants interviewed by The Associated Press said ICE agents often patrol streets posing as contractors—and then deport day laborers who hop in their trucks.
Even so, some rooting of new arrivals has taken place. Civic organizations, small businesses and blue-collar union organizing indicate the Latino presence has firmed.
U.S. Census data indicates nearly 100,000 Hispanics moved to the Gulf Coast after Katrina, but the Census tends not to reach undocumented immigrants.
A 2006 survey of 200 New Orleans construction workers by Tulane University and the University of California found half were Latino and one-quarter were illegal immigrants.
{snip}
(Posted on May 16, 2008)
Comments
Good thinking for ICE to pose as contractors! The way to catch flies is with honey; not vinegar. One wonders why nobody thought of this decades ago. After all, good police work means that if you want to arrest drug dealers, you send plainclothes cops to parks where the druggies hang out and have them make a few purchases.
ICE could even do this in “sanctuary” cities, since local laws about illegal alien sanctuaries do not affect federal law-enforcement officers. I’d love them to do this in Denver, just so I could watch the city government squeal.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 6:25 PM on May 16
I don’t remember ever hearing or reading black leaders demanding these jobs be give to displaced blacks. I never heard Mayor Nagin or Spike Lee speak on the issue.
All I ever heard were demands to relocated and rebuild housing for black residents.
Blacks could have had jobs to build their own homes.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 6:31 PM on May 16
A 2006 survey of 200 New Orleans construction workers by Tulane University and the University of California found half were Latino and one-quarter were illegal immigrants.
And every one of them taking the job of an American worker. The American construction industry is full of traitors.
Posted by at 6:31 PM on May 16
“Five immigrants interviewed by The Associated Press said ICE agents often patrol streets posing as contractors — and then deport day laborers who hop in their trucks.”
Absolutely hilarious. Jose winds up getting a much longer ride than he expected.
If 100,00 Hispanics moved into the area, all I can say is I would rather see them there than the blacks.
Because of the close living conditions and the large numbers of both mestizos and blacks, it looks exactly like the beginning of another hot area for black mestzo clashes in the schools, jails and prisons, with mestizos being elected to many offices.
Don’t look now now, Nagin baby, but your chocolate city is turning a dark tan.
I love it.
Posted by w.r. at 6:45 PM on May 16
Sting operations are an important part of police work. And
illegal immigrants are criminals, international criminals. Lisa
“Ponce de Leon” should be against them. Why does a city need a
director of international relations anyway? America First should
be our motto, our fountain of youth. Internationalism is the
downward path, the path of de-evolution, the way of Death. Lisa
should go back to college to become a CNA or Medical Technician
or something useful like that. Director of International Relat-
ions indeed. Poppycock!
Posted by Freyr at 8:15 PM on May 16
“Workers still cluster outside Home Depot and Lowe’s hoping a contractor will hire them. But they say their gathering spots have become targets for undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who hold up the prospect of day’s pay as bait.
“They come in vans like they’re contractors,” said Walter Ortiz, 32.”
Typical PC liberal thinking. “Let’s stop these Mexicans from taking jobs from the poor, needful “blacks” who had such a bad time of it due to ‘racist’ mother nature”. Even though this is a case where the Mexicans might truly be of assistance.
Why aren’t “they” pulling these slick moves here in Tennessee, which is many hundreds of miles away from Mexico?????
You wouldn’t believe how many Mexicans you see every day in Tennessee! What are they doing here????
Posted by Cousin Charlie from TN at 5:57 AM on May 17
Notice how Hispanics come to the USA under great risk to WORK - IE labor - get up in the morning and bust your hump.
Notice how Nagin’s constituents whine and moan, but will not lift a finger to work.
Posted by at 7:00 AM on May 17
Workers still cluster outside Home Depot and Lowe’s hoping a contractor will hire them. But they say their gathering spots have become targets for undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who hold up the prospect of day’s pay as bait.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICE would need a big rig truck to handle all the illegals they nab in New Orleans.
But at least some are leaving on their own. Thank God for small favors.
Posted by Steven at 11:37 AM on May 17
Buffalonative; Im guessing you have never worked with blacks on a physically demanding job. They WILL NOT work. They whine, complain, shuffle, malinger and do everything they can to avoid exertion until either they or their bosses tire of the game and they are let go or leave. Blacks cant rebuild New Orleans. Blacks wait all day, let the hispanics work then rob them when the sun goes down. Hispanics catch on pretty quickly where blacks are concerned.
I know there is a backlash against the large numbers of illegal hispanics but I would much rather have hispanics in my neighborhood than blacks.
Posted by Capt. Kirkegaard at 12:16 PM on May 17
Note how the Hispanics moved into N.O. to find work and the blacks just sat around doing nothing, expecting to be given new free housing.
Posted by at 2:24 PM on May 17
“My goal is to be here until November, and then never come back,” he said. “I’ve had enough.”
Hey Vega, can you get the rest of your kind to follow your example?
I want to know why rebuilding New Orleans is still an issue. When London burned in 1666, the English government did little for the average citizen to rebuild it, and no foreigners looking for work came in droves to build it back. It was almost all taken care by the citizens, themselves, and no one blamed anyone else for their share of the misfortune. The same was true for Galveston in the early 20th century storm that destroyed it.
The idea of guest worker is just that. If you’re willing to work when the useless natives of the city are willing to sit around in squalor and watch you work, then great. When the work is done, stops or is not appreciated to your satisfaction, then go home and stay home. You were compensated for the work you did and you are owed no more. Adios, muchacho! Have a nice life!
Posted by Reni at 2:37 PM on May 17
The USA is suffocating in its own historical decisions. We’ve had so little time as a nation to get it right. We have to admit, however, that maybe the Mexican American war was not the best thing for us; maybe ranking up there with the destruction of the South in the Civil War. If things had turned out differently…oh well. I don’t hate Mexicans when they come here; to be honest they have a big gripe.They got sold down the river by their upper classes. It is just way too bad. They want “their country back”…do you wonder if we love it more than they? Perhaps realistically all we can ask for is a dually administered area where Americans retain their citizenship with its advatages and Mexicans theirs…no welfare or USA level education, separate schools systems, etc. No crossing over, no gray area, just clear distinctions to be drawn. No persecution but no compassion either. Opinions?
Posted by mark at 8:56 PM on May 17
I was just in new orleans staying at harrah’s; nice bit of info, 2,600 employed at harrah’s before katrina and 1,600 now with a lot of employees standing around and business is 100% pre-katrina
Posted by Lars at 10:10 PM on May 17
“They WILL NOT work. They whine, complain, shuffle, malinger and do everything they can to avoid exertion until either they or their bosses tire of the game and they are let go or leave. Blacks cant rebuild New Orleans.”
I know; that was the point of my comments. I was pointing out that Major Nagin could have, at any moment, demanded that native blacks be given these jobs. He never did. That should be enough to tell you all you need to know about Mayor Nagin and everyone else who want non-blacks to rebuild ‘chocolate city’.
Blacks did nothing to get these jobs. All they did was demand their housing be rebuilt so they could move back in.
Every time I see on the news the report of a mid west town that was obliterated by a tornado in an instant (as opposed to the 48 hours or more warning to evacuate for hurricanes) and I see the white towns people cry but speak with defiant resolve though their tears, ‘we’re going to rebuild’, I feel a great sense of pride in my people.
That’s the difference between blacks in a slow moving disaster and whites who lose everything in an instant.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 10:31 PM on May 17
Capt. Kirkegaard, we are not trading hispanics for blacks, we are getting hispanics in addition to the blacks we already have.
Posted by Joe at 11:48 PM on May 17
Note how the Hispanics moved into N.O. to find work and the blacks just sat around doing nothing, expecting to be given new free housing.
Posted by at 2:24 PM on May 17
It’s worse than you think. The entitlement mentality among American blacks is best depicted in this interview with welfare queen Sharon Jasper, whose (free) lodgings include a big-screen TV.
Sharon Jasper: “I might be poor but I don’t like to live poor. I thank God for a place to live but it’s pitiful what people give you.”
http://blog.nola.com/updates/2007/12/housing_officials_claim_surplu.html
Posted by kgb at 10:40 AM on May 18
As we say here in Louisiana, “Ne pas permettre à la porte pour vous frapper dans le bout comme vous partez!”
Posted by P Norman at 11:22 AM on May 18
I love the liberal slant to the article! Notice how Jose “flocked” from Honduras, like a bird! No description of how he knew it was illegal to enter the country, he just came here “hoping to find a job”.
Posted by Gun Runner at 12:01 PM on May 18
Hurricane Katrina struck a wide area across Louisiana and Mississippi. It didn’t just do a surgical ‘smart-bomb’ strike on N.O. Why is no attention ever paid to the other areas and how the people in those areas are doing? Are these outlying regions mainly White? It would be interesting to see how these places have done compared to the shameful behaviour of the blacks at N.O. Maybe AmRen could do a feature on this?
Posted by at 2:20 PM on May 18
While Hispanics came to New Orleans to find work, Nagin’s idea of “urban renewal” was to hold all these jazzfests, in the hopes that whitey would spend his/her money.
Posted by Soprano Fan at 2:46 PM on May 18
I would happily keep trading Mexico one hard working Mexican peasant for one welfare housed & fed American black. The problem is that we’re getting stuck with both.
Posted by WR the elder at 11:06 PM on May 20
I am from New Orleans and this is one of our least concerns. Certainly they are annoying, but believe me…they aren’t as scary/annoying/rude/mean as black New Orleans people. I would rather have Mexicans than that, at least they work!
Posted by littlevikinggirl at 1:07 PM on May 22