Immigrants and the Gulf Coast atrocity

No one may ever know just how many immigrants died as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Because so many immigrants in the Gulf Coast region are undocumented, it is an impossible task under the capitalist system to locate, count or help them.

The Mexican government said on Sept. 3 that as many as 100,000 Mexicans, most undocumented, were affected by the hurricane. Consuls from Honduras and El Salvador estimate another 200,000 migrants from Central America were in the area.

There were also immigrants from Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean, Vietnam and several African countries.

Making it even more difficult to document or come to the aid of immigrants, the State Department did not allow consular officials into the area, citing security concerns. This was part of the climate of repression and occupation, instead of compassion and aid, that the Bush administration was orchestrating.

Immigrants have not been coming into shelters or Red Cross centers, for fear of deportation or arrest. Because the undocumented live in terror, the catastrophe will only serve to send them further underground.

News reports state that some undocumented Latin@ workers are sneaking into shelters at night and then slipping out in the morning so they won’t be noticed.

The Salvadoran consulate reports that, of 9,600 Salvadorans living in the region, only 40 were reported to have gone to shelters.

Four immigrants are known to have died. The three Mexicans and a Honduran living together decided to stay in their trailer during the storm. They were asphyxiated by a faulty generator after the storm had passed.

Others are reported to be staying in flooded homes and apartments because they do not want to leave their belongings, knowing they are not eligible for any federal aid. Most are low-wage earners and will find it extremely difficult to start life all over again.

In Mississippi, many immigrants have worked in the state’s poultry industry, where conditions are atrocious and the pay is rock bottom. Most are now without a job; 10 of Mississippi’s 14 poultry processing centers are shut down. About 50,000 Latin@s are estimated to live in the state, but these are conservative government figures.

Spanish-speaking immigrants have told the media that announcements about the impending hurricane were made in English. One woman said, “By the time we realized what was happening, we didn’t have time to buy extra food or go somewhere else.” She added that, after the storm hit, she and others couldn't understand the advisories on the radio telling people where to go for water, generators or ice.

Immigrants living on the Gulf Coast and across the country need the solidarity of the progressive and anti-war movement, of labor and human rights activists, now more than ever. Many missing since Aug. 29 may forever remain nameless and faceless.

The crimes of government officials that led to this unparalleled disaster, especially for Black and Latin@ people, must be fully exposed and those responsible held to account.

An immigrant from Guatemala who had been evacuated from Louisiana met a delegation from the Troops Out Now Coalition at a truck stop between Houston and New Orleans on Sept. 7. He embraced this writer, who is Latina, and Johnny Stevens, who is African American, and told us: “Blacks and Latinos, we must be united now more than ever. Bush let that levee fail to kill people like us. We have to be together like never before.”

Surely, only the solidarity of the multinational working class fighting for our interests can bring justice to the people of the Gulf Coast.