It seems that even though Homeland Security has said companies do not have to verify the immigration status of their workers in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the workers themselves are still subject to harassment and detention by immigration officials (via Facing South).
NEW ORLEANS - Agents detained about 100 illegal immigrants working for a Halliburton subcontractor hired to do Hurricane Katrina recovery work, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's office said Thursday.
The workers were involved in setting up a tent city at a Navy base outside New Orleans when they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Wednesday, Landrieu's office said.
Halliburton and other companies are free to exploit and abuse migrant workers and are not accountable to labor and immigration law. Meanwhile, the Federal government deploys Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to harass and detain undocumented workers. In turn, the migrant workers are made to feel even more vulnerable and are further at the mercy of the companies who hire them.
Remember what Lerone Bennet, Jr. said about the purposes of racist ideology in colonial America?
[T]he leading groups in the colonies made it a matter of public policy to destroy the solidarity of the laborers. Laws were passed requiring different groups to keep to themselves, and the seeds of dissension were artfully and systematically sown.
Facing South's Chris Kromm elaborates on how the "leading groups" are pursuing the same ends today, and he adds some important context about the predominantly Honduran population in the migrant labor force.
Ever since the gold rush of Katrina contracts -- and the suspension of laws guaranteeing the usual pay rates for rebuilding work -- the Gulf Coast has become an "immigration magnet," escalating tension between some locals (both black and white) and immigrant newcomers. Not helping matters have been reports of the Red Cross kicking out "Hispanic-looking" people at shelters, and Mayor Ray Nagin telling a crowd, "How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?"
How about a little context:
Many Hondurans came to the New Orleans area after Hurricane Mitch tore through their homeland in 1998, devastating the already poverty-stricken country. Few funds were available for aid and rebuilding, and corrupt officials siphoned off much of the foreign financial help. Many parts of the capitol Tegucigalpa still stand in ruins seven years later.
Hurricane Katrina was an all-too-familiar experience for those who were already refugees. About 150,000 Hondurans were among an estimated 300,000 immigrants living in the areas hit by the storm. And in a country far wealthier than their homeland, many found their access to aid and support was not much different.
And of course, a leading reason Honduras was so ill-equipped to handle Hurricane Mitch was because of a devastating U.S.-backed war and dictatorship in the country, including death squads -- a 1994 human rights report still couldn't find 179 "disappeared" citizens -- aggressively promoted by President Bush's choice for U.N. embassador and embassador to Iraq, John Negroponte.
So really, we've come full circle.
Update: Fixed first link and clarified its wording.
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