Follow the Work Ping!
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 ...
I'll refrain from asking how you support your FR habit. :)
susie
I have a better idea...
Ship them south of the border
Yes, just like everyone else with a social security number.
Maybe this is why it is taking so long to rebuild New Orleans???
Their work ethic is we get paid this amount an hour no matter if we work slow or fast.
Guess which speed is picked...That has been my experience with these guys...
Has anyone ever heard of the illegal alien migrant workers who return to the completed jobs to rob, mame, kill the people who hired them?
My favorite rationalization for illegal behavior was given me by my President: "They're coming (breaking our laws on the way, while here and then do it again when sent back) to do the jobs Americans won't do."
In other words, if we weren't a land of prosperity, riddled with assorted Communist tools, we wouldn't have an invasion taking us over.
I wonder which laws I can skirt to make my life easier?
I have to agree with you on that comment. Look
at how a lot of Hurricane "victims" were/are feeding at the
public and charity troughs.
I see people, hardworking in those pictures. They are doing the work. How many Americans have gone down there to work ESPECIALLY those who lived there and are screaming for Gov. freebies?
You see Ray Nagin lift a hammer? How about Blanco? No way.
I am all for border control no matter what and to deal with illegals immediately, but it is hard to think these things when you see people working like this...in a dirty diseased city that most American workers won't set foot in, not even the previous owners.
The only thing that makes me think otherwise of these workers is that they will send South probably 95% of what they earn.
Ante Meridia - I did not know that - Thanks
"The only thing that makes me think otherwise of these workers is that they will send South probably 95% of what they earn."
From what I heard, they are spending a fair amount at the local taverns! LOL So not all their money goes across the border.
Are you admitting that you hire illegals?
The way I do the math this kid is making too much per hour. It looks like he may be ripping off FEMA.
$26,000 for 2 months work or $l3,000 for one's months work of construction,plumbing, electrician. HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess as long as the Miller Genuine Draft holds out...
Also, the other thing about these workers is the fact that they bring their kids, pregnant wives and are a huge burden on schools, medical facilities, etc. Leave the family home, send them money you earn, then leave.
Think how much someone can make as an interpreter these days. They are needed everywhere. Schools, courts, hospitals. I really am thinking about taking some Spanish classes. It never hurts to know another language.
Excuse me, but how much would you pay a contractor to
build a garage or a pool at your house? More than $16/hour, and I am sure that depending on the company, they pay their people more.
I see a combination of people saying that illegals are depressing the wage base (they are), and now that they may be making too much.
$16/hr. is actually less than what some construction workers earn in other areas of the country. If the building industry is good, I know people who start out over $20 an hour and they are not working on a Gov. contract either.
I have seen job postings that pay a lot more for persons who interpret.
I know that most Court systems pay a small fortune for interpreter services...lemmee check...
4,### a week. Not everyone works for FEMA. A foreman under contract is paid in that most capitalistic way. By production. I never started this to say that this was the norm. Most of my customers that went say they are making about 13- 16 hr
I guess the illegals are only doing the jobs that New Orleans residents refuse to do.
"Wait 'til they discover welfare, that's where the real gold is."
fool's gold.
Hiring illegals is a sure way to keep wages depressed and reduce the job market for American citizens.
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