Immigrants will play a crucial role in hurricane recovery efforts
After Hurricane Katrina, grocery and big box stores all over the
With the announcement that the Trump administration will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, it is all the more important to understand why immigration matters at times like these. As areas of
During these times, immigration will relieve pressure on the market for lower-skilled labor. As the demand for clean-up and construction labor grows, workers have to come from somewhere. There are some willing native-born Americans, but from past experience it's clear that there aren't enough Americans who both need the work and are willing to do it for the current wage.
The increased demand for labor will push up wages, and higher wages will attract workers to
One way to gain that additional labor without labor costs rising as high would be to open the door to more immigrants. Higher local wages in the immediate aftermath of the storm will make it worthwhile for workers to come from
High wages are certainly a good thing for workers already in those industries, but not for people looking to rebuild. The victims of
Post-hurricane wages for unskilled labor will offer immigrants much more lucrative work than they could get at home, making it worth the risk and inconvenience of coming to
Immigrants' wages would also help rebuild flooded communities by becoming a source of demand for local and national businesses as they reopen.
Putting down the welcome mat for immigrants in the aftermath of
After Katrina, many immigrants who helped rebuild settled along the
Increased immigration also creates much-needed slack in the post-hurricanes labor market. The more new entrants to the labor force we can get through immigration, the smaller the increase in labor costs elsewhere in the
The anti-immigrant message sent by ending DACA will make it harder to attract such labor than it was after Katrina. This will make recovery more difficult and expensive than it needs to be, revictimizing those affected by the recent hurricanes and harming others around the country who will also face higher labor costs.
Rebuilding will require a great deal of new labor. Getting it through immigration is a win-win for both Americans and the immigrants. It shouldn't take the catastrophic flooding of America's fourth-largest city or much of
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