Juan Silvino Sanchez, Juan Cogco and Santo DeJesus are among the thousands of Mexicans who came to New Orleans for construction jobs after Hurricane Katrina. “We really didn’t know where it was,” said one man who left Mexico for the work.
Posted on 04/04/2006 10:22:23 AM PDT by BurbankKarl
As the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina receded in September, roads filled with residents leaving the city, their cars, SUVs and moving vans jammed with what they had salvaged of their lives.
But another mass movement was taking place on the other sides of the highways.
Thousands of men from Mexico and Central America were driving into the city. Word had spread throughout the Latino immigrant diaspora in America that the city had plenty of work, construction wages had doubled to $16 an hour and no one was asking for papers.
"It was like a Gold Rush," said Oscar Calanche, a Guatemalan immigrant who lived in New Orleans before the storm and returned as soon as the waters receded. "In one car there'd be three up front and three or four in the back, with suitcases and tools on top. It looked like a river of people from our countries."
Latino workers have gutted, roofed and painted houses and hauled away garbage, debris and downed trees. Undocumented workers have installed trailers to house returning evacuees at New Orleans City Park, their pay coming from FEMA subcontractors.
"It's all illegals doing this work," said Rey Mendez, a FEMA trailer subcontractor from Honduras.
No one knows how many Latino immigrants are here, but John Logan, a Brown University demographer who has studied the city since Katrina, says "there must be 10,000 to 20,000 immigrant workers in the region by now, and the number is going to grow."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Juan Silvino Sanchez, Juan Cogco and Santo DeJesus are among the thousands of Mexicans who came to New Orleans for construction jobs after Hurricane Katrina. “We really didn’t know where it was,” said one man who left Mexico for the work.
Not surprising.
Wait 'til they discover welfare, that's where the real gold is.
Rebuilding the cities Americans refuse to rebuild.
Duh!
I was in NOLA a few weeks ago and drove up to the local exxon to grab some goodies, I hopped out of my truck and was immediatly approached by 3 or 4 'hispanics' asking if I had work...
They are obviously doing those jobs Americans don't want to do. Why didn't the residents come back to work? Maybe because THEY discovered welfare!
ya... thats it... too bad hispanics tend to have better work ethic than most on welfare..
susie
Hey at least they are working hard. No matter what, you have to respect someone that puts in an honest day of hard work more than some lazy bastard that just sits waiting for government handouts.
Discovered?
I am in North Carolina and several of my hispanic customers went to New Orleans for work. Plumbers electricians carpenters you name it. All of them were Tax ID legals. I fail to believe EVERYONE there is illegal.
There was one that called me every month or so asking about trucks. I answered and talked to him a bit and he came in a few weeks ago. I kid you not his real, live verified paystub was for $26,2## year to date. The date was 2/28/06....
The illegals are robbing us blind, no kidding, have two friends now robbed, and they are in their homes, one took child to school, returned to find illegal Mexican in house in bedroom taking her personals, another house has been robbed twice, and another car was stolen, so some not here to work, but to rob, we have had enough
well, that will buy a house in Mejico!
My guess is the new residents of New Orleans are less likely to engage in that behavior than the old residents of New Orleans.
They will need new schools,hospitals,dental,homes,buses,welfare,Medicare,SSI,SSD, NO will be a great barrio of drugs and violent gangs in short order
Of course they will also need more cops,jail cells and probation officers too...that speak Spanish of course.
And the US taxpayer will be on the hook for it all.... imo
Well apparently you don't live in the middle of a bunch of illegals.
They may be hard workers but the communities where they are heavily congregated (Calif) are high in crime, welfare payments, etc. Oh yeah, and they all look just like Mexico.
Well..New Orleans may very well turn out to be a "chocolate city" after all, just more milk chocolate than dark chocolate.
This guy is as likely to buy a house in Mexico as you are. People who grow up in despair and poverty yet make their way here, legally enter and become citizens understand the beauty of America in a way that I cannot. I am a white New englander by birth, and no member of my family lived here before 1920. (I love baiting people into the slave reparations arguement) Immigration of the best driven around the world built this country. Entitlement by birth is whats ripping it apart. I would be just as proud to have this immigrant as my neighbor.
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