Thread: Immigrants Told To Seek Help, Whatever Their Legal Status

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... 2308.story?

Published: Sep 8, 2005
Author: Oscar Avila and Hugh Dellios


Foreign governments and Hispanic advocacy groups scrambled Wednesday to help an especially vulnerable group of hurricane survivors: immigrants who often don't speak English or possess legal immigration status.

In a region coping with a devastated infrastructure, relief workers had to work extra hard to reach immigrant victims, especially with a reported shortage of bilingual volunteers.

Many victims compounded the challenge by heading underground, but officials from Mexico and Central America urged their people to seek disaster relief, even if they are illegal immigrants. Leaders also urged U.S. authorities not to deport hurricane victims, and officials with the Department of Homeland Security said immigration enforcement would take a back seat to saving lives.

Hurricane Katrina was especially devastating for Hondurans who have crossed the Gulf of Mexico for decades to work at ports and fishing jobs in Louisiana.

Many Hondurans came to Louisiana for a more desperate reason: to flee the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Central America in 1998. The U.S. government provided temporary legal status for Hondurans affected by Mitch.

The Honduran government said at least 40,000 Hondurans could have been affected by Katrina. The government has set up a temporary consulate in Baton Rouge, La., and the ambassador to the U.S. has flown to the region.

The Mexican government also has reached out to its people who have helped fuel a wave of migration to the South. Officials said about 40,000 Mexicans were thought to be living in Louisiana, which has historically drawn immigrants across the Gulf from Yucatan state.

The Foreign Ministry has established temporary "mobile" consulates in Baton Rouge and Mobile, Ala., to help hurricane victims. They also are offering financial help and phone cards.

But Mexico also has urged immigrants in the U.S. to fuel relief efforts, just as their remittances provided a $16 billion engine last year for development and humanitarian projects at home.

Mexico's Secretary of Social Development invited Chicago immigrant leaders to a meeting Wednesday night with the intention of encouraging them to organize relief projects.

Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic advocacy group in the U.S., said the Mexican assistance is vital because U.S. relief efforts have been hampered by a shortage of bilingual volunteers, according to agencies in the affected area.

Hispanic leaders report even worse problems reaching undocumented immigrants. In past disasters, undocumented immigrants have received emergency aid but have not been eligible for government assistance during reconstruction.

Murguia, part of a delegation that met with President Bush, said she has been assured that undocumented immigrants have "absolutely no fear of recrimination right now."

To reinforce that message, Mexican President Vicente Fox broadcast messages to Mexicans in the U.S., trying to persuade them to seek help. "Don't be afraid to follow rescue officials' directions," Fox said.

At a regional summit in Nicaragua, the presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua demanded that the U.S. not prosecute or expel hurricane victims.

This is where my questioning was aimed in the post @ here" I wonder if they (doctors, mobile food wagon) will put the illegals before the Americans?"

BTW count I love that stinking avatar, it is wonderful

Murguia, part of a delegation that met with President Bush, said she has been assured that undocumented immigrants have "absolutely no fear of recrimination right now."

[Contact your Rep. and demand that Bush be impeached.]

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