Immigrants Isolated by Katrina
Need Temporary Protective Status
Randy Jurado Ertll

In the 1990s, thousands of immigrants flocked from Central America and Mexico to work in New Orleans and other U.S. destinations that are now ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. With or without our permission, they came.

Ironically, thousands of the Hondurans and other Central Americans were driven to that area in 1998 by Hurricane Mitch and its devastation to their homelands. Many were granted Temporary Protective Status (TPS) by the United States because of that natural disaster on foreign soil.

Now some Latino community organizations are asking President Bush to grant Temporary Protective Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to the undocumented immigrants who were trapped by Hurricane Katrina.

This would allow them, like other Katrina victims, to obtain work permits and to be eligible to receive the aid being provided by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

There is simple logic in the proposal. We aided them elsewhere. Why deny them because they’re here, willingly doing the work and accepting the wages that the rest of us scorn?

By Latin American embassy estimates, these victims number in the tens of thousands. But they were nowhere to be seen in the footage of the human tragedy that we watched on our living room TV sets.

Where did they go? What has happened to them? What happened to their U.S.-born children?

The questions bring back memories of the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California and the families that lost their homes and all their worldly possessions. Thousands became homeless and FEMA did respond under the leadership of President Bill Clinton. But the victims who lacked immigration papers were not eligible for federal aid. They did not seek it even though the earthquake affected their children who were U.S. citizens by birth.

Something similar is occurring now in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Undocumented immigrants are not seeking any type of aid. They are afraid that they will be asked for their legal status and face deportation.

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. immigration laws have become more stringent. As a nation, we have become more anti-immigrant. The bulk of this backlash is directed toward those from Latin America, who are poor and dark, who may speak with accents and without an arsenal of English to express themselves.

The Mexican and Central American immigrants living in the stricken gulf region don’t know where to turn today, whether to stay there or move elsewhere where Latino immigrants blend in.

The Mexican, Salvadoran, Honduran and other consular offices have searched and identified many of their nationals who were displaced by the hurricane. Some are trying to relocate in Texas and California. Most all are struggling to survive. TPS would definitely help these families to reestablish their lives.

TPS is not a “blanket amnesty” or an invitation for further illegal immigration. It is a humanitarian tool that can help these families escape their underground existence and find productive work, while strengthening local economies.

Granting TPS will reinforce our national security laws since these individuals will be clearly identified.

They will be able to obtain valid Social Security cards and drivers licenses. They will become “documented immigrants.”

Latino immigrants have been entering the social, economic and political fabric of Southern states for decades. They have worked hard in the restaurant, janitorial, construction, agricultural and other labor sectors. They are law-abiding individuals who just want to protect their U.S.-born children.

President Bush’s father and Bill Clinton played heroic roles when they led efforts to help the survivors of the tsunamis in Asia and Africa. Now they are helping at home through the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund.

By granting TPS, President Bush can show the world that the United States believes in the promise inscribed on our Statue of Liberty.

(Randy Jurado Ertll is a founding member of the Salvadoran American Political Action Committee SAL-PAC in Los Angeles, He may be reached by e-mail at randyertll@yahoo.com)

© 2005, Hispanic Link News Service
10/02/05
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