Latinos paid dearly after Katrina

Santa Maria Times ^ | March 13, 2006 | Maria Elena

[beaversmom]

We didn't need another report to tell us that there was negligence and mismanagement in the federal government's handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but we got it anyway.

We didn't need a video showing us that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and President Bush had been briefed ahead of time about the eminent threat Katrina posed to New Orleans - it was obvious from the start.

What we had not seen until now is to what extent Latinos were unfairly treated before and after the devastating hurricane hit the Gulf Coast.

It took an organization like the National Council of La Raza to get a clear picture of how the Latino community suffered more than was originally reported. Representatives from FEMA and the Red Cross said over and over again that all hurricane victims would receive emergency assistance, regardless of their immigration status.

What NCLR found in its recent study was quite a different story.

“The disaster response - both public and private - was a disaster for Latinos and other communities of color,” said Janet Murguia, NCLR president and CEO. She went on to say that the response of the two entities most responsible for disaster relief - the federal government and the American Red Cross - was “a failure on every level for Latinos.”

The number of Latinos in the affected area was more than double the amount originally thought. Some 230,000 Hispanics lived in the Gulf states when Katrina hit. Yet, no warnings to evacuate were given in any language other than English. As a consequence, several non-English-speaking casino workers in Mississippi lost their lives.

When it came time to provide shelter and housing, many Latino legal residents reported that they were turned away under the assumption that they were undocumented immigrants, while those who actually were undocumented were started on deportation proceedings.

In its report “In the Eye of the Storm: How the Government and Private Response to Hurricane Katrina Failed Latinos,” NCLR criticizes the Department of Homeland Security for not suspending immigration-enforcement laws to allow disaster victims to receive basic emergency aid like food and water.

It also blasts the Department of Labor for not enforcing labor laws, thus contributing to the exploitation of workers.

Hundreds of workers hired for the cleanup of the affected areas complained that they had not been paid what was promised to them - some weren't paid at all. For at least 106 of those workers, justice came at the end of February when a subcontractor working for KBR - a subsidiary of Halliburton - was forced to pay the workers a total of $141,887 in back wages.

Individually, they didn't get that much. The compensation checks ranged from $400 to $2,800. But it was a symbolic victory for them. The workers had been promised $13 an hour, plus food and housing. Instead they got $7 an hour, inadequate housing and very little food.

When they complained to the contractor, the owner threatened to report them to immigration officials.

NCLR's report also condemns the American Red Cross for failing to serve the Latino community, citing bureaucratic barriers that led to delays in assisting Latino victims. The Red Cross, asserts the report, did not work with Latino organizations in the disaster area that offered to help serve the community in need.

Both the federal government and the disaster-relief agency were criticized for the lack of diversity in their staffs. The Red Cross has only a 2 percent Hispanic makeup in its board of governors.

“The Red Cross should look more like America,” NCLR's Murguia said.

The head of NCLR stopped short of calling for a boycott of the disaster-relief agency.

“I can't in good conscience ask people to support the Red Cross at this point, after what we've seen and what we've learned. And I would want to see some very concrete steps, plans of how the Red Cross will respond to the Hispanic community in the future, before I would encourage anyone to donate to the Red Cross again,” she said at a press conference in Washington.

The conclusion of the report is a well-known fact: Three months before the start of hurricane season, the federal government and the American Red Cross are unprepared to address the needs of Latinos - or any other community, for that matter.

Maria Elena Salinas is anchor of “Noticiero Univision.” Visit her Web site at www.mariaesalinas.com to send comments.

[Spirited]

Would any of the Latino countries have broadcast warnings in English? The airwaves in D.C. are increasingly owned by Spanish, Portugese etc. entities and broadcast in those languages, fewer English speaking stations exist. It is difficult to believe that a region hosting so many supposed foreigners does not have stations that speak their languages.

When our forefathers immigrated, they had to learn the language. Go back to the country that speaks your language if you don't speak English....

[chexmixsugar]

I went to court one day on a speeding ticket,The mexican in front of me asked for an interpreter, the judge asked the mexican a very lenghtly question, and before the interpretor told him what was said the mexican said yes. I thought the Judge was going to throw the gavel at him. Instead he told the interpretor to leave and told the mexican to stop wasting other people's time and money. The mexican then asked WHY.
If it is this bad now i wonder what it will be like in ten years or so

[chexmixsugar]

And we didn't need this report either.

[ArrogantBustard]

It took an organization like the National Council of La Raza

La Raza has the same credibility as the NAACP, CPUSA, KKK, and the Democratic Party.

[beaversmom]

LOL

[First_Salute]

 

rovenstinez

If you come across any Mexican Marines, thank them for us.

 

Emergency Assistance - Joint Task Force Katrina

U.S. Navy sailors from the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and Mexican Marines carry a log as they remove Hurricane Katrina debris at the D'iberville Elementary School in D'iberville, Miss., on Sept. 9, 2005. Once the debris has been cleared the school will be used to provide food and medicine for evacuees. Department of Defense units are mobilized as part of Joint Task Force Katrina to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief efforts in the Gulf Coast areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Sandberg, U.S. Navy. (Released)

050909-N-4374S-008

Related story in USA Today --- "Bush denies race affected Katrina response" (9/12/2005) --- an excerpt about that situation:

"Bush stopped at a distribution center run by Christ in Action. 'Good to see you' and 'Good luck,' Bush murmured to people he greeted along long tables where food and supplies such as water, diapers and toilet paper were being distributed. He also cheered on a group of Mexican marines and Navy Seabees just back from Iraq who were clearing debris at the 28th St. Elementary School." (Gulfport, MS)

Related story in the Orange County Register --- "Hurricane Katrina relief work turns into international effort" (9/10/2005) ---

by George Pawlaczyk
Knight Ridder Newspapers

ABOARD THE PAPALOAPAN – The Marines have landed in Biloxi, Miss. The Mexican Marines.

And Dutch Marines, too.

Marines from Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States are allies in an international Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort based on ships about 20 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Four Canadian ships are also on the way.

"Our president called George Bush, and three days later we came here," said Oscar Martinez Pretelin, an officer aboard the Papaloapan, a 440-foot-long, troop-landing ship. "We are honored to help the United States."

About 75 Mexican Marines landed Thursday on the beach just east of the Beau Rivage casino to begin cleaning up Biloxi, especially around schools and churches.

One of the Marines, Mario T. Rodriguez, said he left a small city in the far south of Mexico to volunteer for hurricane relief duty. He has a 3-month-old daughter with his wife at home.

"The U.S. is so rich, but even a rich country can need help," he said.

The Mexican Marines will be aided by Spanish-speaking crew members of the USS Bataan as they work in the devastated areas of Biloxi and Gulfport.

For the first time in the history of the Mexican military, women have been assigned a mission, said Lt. Leonardo Tun Humbert of the Papaloapan. Three female physicians and two nurses from the Mexican navy are aboard the ship waiting to be assigned to hurricane relief work.

"We are trained to help and we will help," said Sgt. Carmen Rodriguez Cruz, 26, a nurse from Veracruz.

A Dutch ship, the Van Amstel, a frigate that was pulled off a drug patrol near Aruba after Katrina struck Aug. 29, is also here.

Lt. Cmdr. Henk Suurveld, the ship's second in command, said his men will patrol to make sure pleasure craft don't interfere with military operations.

A contingent of about 70 Dutch Marines also landed on the beach Thursday in Biloxi to clean up neighborhoods.

"The devastation is terrible. It is horrible," Suurveld said. "For us, job satisfaction is helping out in a situation like this."

Washington Post story --- "Mexican Aid Plays Well on Both Sides of the Border" (9/15/2005) --- excerpt:

photo originally AP/Yahoo
it is not a W'Post photo

Twenty-five years from now Mexicans might similarly remember events that occurred this week. In Gulfport, Miss., President Bush personally thanked Mexican troops for "working together'' with U.S. counterparts to help rebuild an elementary school devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In front of reporters and photographers Bush shook the hands of members of the Mexican navy, the word " MARINA '' visibly emblazoned across their chests.

White House photos ---

President George W. Bush is joined by Gulfport, Miss., Mayor Brent Warr, left; Twenty-Eighth Street Elementary School principal Phyllis A Bourn and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, right, Monday, Sept. 12, 2005, outside the Twenty-Eighth Street Elementary School in Gulfport, where U.S. and Mexico aid workers are helping to clean-up the school devastated by Hurricane Katrina. White House photo by Paul Morse

President George W. Bush greets aid workers from Mexico helping in the hurricane ravaged areas in Gulfport, Miss., Monday, Sept. 12, 2005. White House photo by Paul Morse