DeSantis immigration law could impact Florida’s post-hurricane cleanup efforts

When Hurricane Idalia wreaked havoc last week, Michael Burnett’s oceanfront home in Crystal River, Florida, was flooded to the depths of his body with a toxic mix of rainwater and wastewater from burst pipes. Chest.

“We lost everything we owned,” said Burnett, the gun store manager. “All my kids’ clothes, all my guitars, all my guns, everything I collected is gone.”

He added: “The only positive thing is the people who come to my house.”

These “guys” are four men who are in the country illegally and Burnett hires them to help sort things out. They are part of a migrant workforce that has helped communities in Florida and other states clean up and rebuild after climate disasters in recent years, and thousands of such workers continue to arrive.

But as hurricane season intensifies this year, Florida may have fewer available workers than needed.

In May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law preventing immigrants without legal status from living and working in the state. He called the law the nation’s toughest crackdown, which denies out-of-state driver’s licenses to immigrants who enter the country illegally, makes it a felony to transport such immigrants to Florida and punishes companies that hire them.

“It’s a lot of work, but we can’t risk deportation,” said Maria, a Honduran immigrant in Louisiana who worked in Florida after Hurricane Ian last year but said she will avoid traveling there to help clean up from now on health. After the storm. “We’re here to stay.”

Like other immigrants interviewed for this article, Maria asked that only her first name be used for the safety of her family.

After the Florida Legislature passed the measure and even before it took effect on July 1, Maria and other immigrants said they were harassed by the state’s police and peace officers. Currently, they say they fear law enforcement will arrest them and turn them over to federal authorities for detention and deportation. DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday on questions about the impact of enforcement or immigration decisions on hurricane recovery.

Carlos is an undocumented worker who lives in Texas and holds a Maryland driver’s license. He said he typically assembles a crew to clear debris in Florida after a hurricane, then make repairs and install doors, windows and flooring.

He said they worked non-stop for seven months in Fort Myers after Hurricane Ian because satisfied customers kept recommending the crew to their friends. But he said they left Florida as quickly as possible when the Legislature passed immigration laws.

Carlos said in Houston that while Idalia flooded hundreds of homes and businesses from Tampa Bay to Great Bend, Florida, “we are absolutely not going” to help with the recovery. He has worked in Houston for 20 years and lived in Houston for 13 of those years. Countries…

“Imagine being arrested and deported to a job that actually helps people,” he said. “We have families.”

While it’s impossible to say how many undocumented immigrants are staying away from Florida, more than half of the 1,000 people informally surveyed this summer by Resilience Force, a nonprofit that organizes disaster recovery workers, provides disaster and safety training. They said they do not plan to return to Florida during this year’s hurricane season due to legal reasons.

“After Idalia, Florida residents will need thousands of trained disaster recovery personnel to rebuild their homes, but they may not have access to them,” said Saket Soni, executive director of Resilience Force.

“The vast majority of these workers are immigrants,” he said.

On August 30, Hurricane Idalia made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida, with wind speeds of up to 200 kilometers, knocking off house roofs, downing power lines and blowing down trees. Torrential rain and rising rain flooded low-lying areas such as Crystal River, about 80 miles north of Tampa.

The large amounts of water caused the city’s sewage system to collapse. The pressure was so great that water in the Burnett home spurted out of the toilet like a geyser, penetrated the ceiling and flooded every room. Burnett, 43, and the family dog ​​Leila were trapped inside, and by the time firefighters arrived in a launch and rescued them, the rotting water had reached a height of 1.8 meters.

Kelly Burnett, 37, who returned home with her children, ages 3 and 7, recalled that her belongings had turned into “a pile of pure garbage.”

“It’s devastating,” he said. “We really don’t know what to do.”

Michael Burnett suffers from eczema, which can be exacerbated by long-term exposure to bacteria. The couple’s elderly parents were unable to help.

When Michael Burnett went to Home Depot to buy supplies, he saw some Latino men holding signs that read: “Demolish, Repair and Transport.”

Burnett hired their services, and before he got home, the men were parked in front of his turquoise house. Workers spent four days sifting through piles of toys, clothes and other items, as well as soggy, crumbling boxes, earning a total of $500 a day.

“If they find something in the pile that they think has sentimental value, they bring it to us,” Kelly Burnett said, including a photo of herself as a child.

Michael Burnett gave the men an extra $500 on their last day working for him, saying, “If these people are willing to do this and make some money to help people they don’t know, they deserve the world.”

The group is led by Rogelio, who is from Honduras and has been involved in post-storm cleanup since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He said they decided to risk traveling to Florida “trusting God to protect us.”

“There are a lot of homeowners asking for help,” he said, “but the workers just aren’t here.”

Property outside a home damaged by Hurricane Idalia is seen Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, in Crystal River, Florida. (Zach Wittman/The New York Times)

Rising rain and torrential rains flooded low-lying areas such as Crystal River in Florida, about 80 miles north of Tampa. (Zach Whitman/The New York Times)