Immigrants Rush to New Orleans as Contractors Fight for Workers

LA Times ^ | 10/10/5 | Peter Pae

[Crackingham]

Most of the signs are handwritten and simply worded, such as "Workers Wanted" or "Need 50 Laborers Now!"

Word has gotten out and each morning day laborers — who come from Central America and Mexico by way of California, Texas and Arizona — gather on street corners in the Kenner and Metairie neighborhoods on the western edge of the city. Lured by jobs paying $15 to $17 an hour, the Spanish-speaking day laborers have flooded into New Orleans to haul out debris, clear downed trees, put in drywall and perform other tasks as rebuilding takes hold in the city. Specialized roofers can make $300 a day. Contractors know the new day-labor pickup spots. By noon, a tree-trimming firm hires the last available hand on Williams Boulevard near Interstate 10.

"We've never had Hispanic day laborer sites. That's a totally new phenomenon," said David Ware, a longtime New Orleans immigration lawyer.

With 140,000 homes destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is undergoing the nation's largest reconstruction effort and its new workforce is largely Latino. No one knows how many immigrants have descended here since Katrina ravaged the city five weeks ago, but their presence is visible throughout the city.

Abimael and Filegonia Diaz may have been among the first wave of newcomers. Since Sept. 12, the couple has been clearing debris, washing windows and sweeping floors at a hotel in downtown New Orleans. For six years, Abimael worked in Nashville as a day laborer and sent money to Filegonia and their three young children in Mexico.

"We'll stay here because I think the job will last a long time," Abimael Diaz said. "If we can make enough money, we would like to buy a house and bring our children to New Orleans."

[brytlea]

I once had Crawfish Quesadillas. They were the grossest thing I've ever had. BTW I love either of those things, but not together for some reason!!
susie

[traumer]

"We'll stay here because I think the job will last a long time," Abimael Diaz said.
"If we can make enough money, we would like to buy a house and bring our children to New Orleans."

Stay there.

[Kenny Bunk]

The blacks in Memphis were for the most part, surly to outright hostile, lazy, and generally incompetent. They just didn't care about anything.

Jeez fellas, that just ain't the point. The lower-end African-Americans are this country's greatest failure. They could be a tremendous asset. It's our job as a nation to figure out some way to make the incentives for working and playing it straight pay off for them.

The Latinos already outnumber African-Americans. As a nation, there's no way we can pay for the services working illegals are soaking up, and welfare to African-Americans, too.

In re the reconstruction of New Orleans: I say put it under military jurisdiction and draft (or "impress" might be a better word) welfare loafers right off the strreets and of the couches of their subsidized housing, and the jails and put them to work.

[brytlea]

I don't see anyone decrying ANY AMERICAN working. I see people concerned as all get out because we are in the midst of an invasion by people who are not being vetted, who are not being checked for any kind of contageous diseases, who are using our hospital emergency rooms as health clinics, who are taxing our school systems, etc. And I see people who start trying to muddy the waters between legal immigrants and illegal border jumpers.
I don't care why they come here illegaly. I want them to be sent packing. We cannot afford to accomodate every person on the face of the earth who would like to make a better life here.
Just stop acting as if anyone here is against Americans of Mexican descent.
susie

[after dark]

The Mexicans are part Indian part Hispanic. Many of the original inhabitants of New Orleans were probably a mix of french and Indian. I think many in New Orleans will like having the Mexicans around, and the Mexicans will start believing they also are part french.

[BIRDS]

Yes, but, all that is wonderful except that all these "latinos" are NOT HERE LEGALLY. At least, I am alleging, most are not.

All those "waves of Irish, German and other European immigratns" WERE LEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

Apparently, people from mostly Mexico lack the intellectual ability to comprehend the difference between "legal" and "illegal."

NO? They don't? Then they're disregarding the laws of the United States with intention.

Both are pretty terrible.

Admiring anyone's work ethic can also be applied to a great job done while in jail, by people there who also broke laws but "work hard."

[lonewacko_dot_com]

Complaining about his city being flooded this time by illegal foreign labor is not "racist".

While I'm willing to blame Nagin for his various faults, supporting Americans doing these jobs rather than illegal aliens is not one of them.

[ncountylee]

You missed my LOL?

[brytlea]

Sorry, it sounded to me as if you were spinning the issue.
susie

[evets]

Doing the work that Looter Guy won't do.

[jwpjr]

Try putting a Border Patrol or INS marked car at or near the recruiting site. Anyone that walks past that car to apply is probably legal. Or too drunk to notice.

Seriously, it's a huge problem and all those in power do it talk about it. I recall the last time we tried to reform our immigration laws. Everyone assured us the approach would solve the problem and that amnesty would never again be needed as part of controlling illegal immigration.

Whatever plan they come up with it will do no good as long as people are allowed to stream across out borders and melt into our population.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

A very solid point, Cicero. You hit the nail on the head.

[jwpjr]

I made an observation here a few months ago that said some pretty nice things about some crews I had seen every day in my neighborhood laying optic fiber cable for the local phone company. The responses were predictable. I expect you will get quite a few of them yourself.

I tried to engage some of the more flaming responders in a discussion of the economics of paying what most home-boys want for a wage and providing the benefits they expect and the effect it would have on what the customer would have to pay for the finished product. I don't think I made much headway. They seem to be able to look at it only from an ethnocentric view. They have never had to make a payroll, deal with Worker's Comp or the unemployment people or work with payroll to handle withholding for income tax and social security. Or figure out how to complete a crew when two of the workers can't get to work on Monday because they are too hungover. Or worry about the amount of liability coverage they need to handle it when one of their crews backs their trench machine into someone's parked car.

I don't know of a single business owner who would not gladly pay what the home-boys expect if it meant getting honest workers who would show up for work and take some pride in their work.

Meanwhile, for the MOST part (not all of it, MOST of it) the surest way to get these attributes in a workforce is to use works who know firsthand what a great deal a job in America is.

I hope I can get asbestos suit on before the flaming starts!

[lonewacko_dot_com]

I misinterpreted your comment then. As for the article, Does the L.A. Times support displacing African-Americans from New Orleans?

[Skeeve14]

Dont be upset.

We are using same theory of: lure all the terrorist to Iraq theory except we lure all the illegals into New Orleans and then we arrest them. It's genius. heh

[Paul C. Jesup]

I would bet money that we will see health lawsuits by those illegals who went to New Orleans, given the toxins there, within six months.

[jwpjr]

re: SOMEHOW those jobs DID get done before the invasion of illegal aliens was imposed upon us.

I am not taking sides in this, my asbestos suit has been shipped back to its maker for the latest upgrade and I have no protection against the flames right now.

Before these illegal aliens were imposed on us the man of the family was the primary wage earner. His employer knew that and pay rates reflected it. Starting in the 60's the man was less and less the primary wage earner and today it's a rare family that isn't a dual income family. This means the jobs that were being done by the non-wage earners in those days are now being done by someone else. The demand for people to do these jobs is much greater now than it was 40 years ago. If nothing else comes from this realization that we are now dependent on a HUGE workforce of unskilled labor it shows just how important the 'housewife' was to the economic health of America. We have pretty much removed that position from today's choices for employment and the results are not hard to see.