Florida needs workers to rebuild after Ian. Undocumented migrants are stepping in.

[teach1st]

Florida needs workers to rebuild after Ian. Undocumented migrants are stepping in.
Washington Post, 10/23/2022

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The last time Antonio followed a hurricane to Florida, authorities detained him at a day-labor stand and sent the construction worker back to his native Mexico. After nearly 20 years in this country, he accepted the order to leave. He wanted to see his aging parents.

But he returned to the state days after Hurricane Ian, sleeping in his pickup truck in a discount store parking lot. Glancing at the street, waiting for someone to roll up and offer him work, he said he was anxious because Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has declared that undocumented immigrants are unwelcome in Florida.

“We’re not here to steal; we’re here to work,” said Antonio, 48, standing beside his truck in a hard-hit city in Southwest Florida. “This is helping.”

Florida’s governor upended the national debate over the record number of arrests on the southern border by flying newly arrived migrants last month to liberal-leaning Massachusetts, ostensibly to prevent them from burdening his state with the cost of their education and health care. But after Hurricane Ian inflicted billions of dollars in damage, undocumented workers came to the Sunshine State to rebuild, joining tens of thousands of others who were already here — and who construction managers say are sorely needed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2022/10/23/florida-hurricane-ian-migrant-workers/

Gifted link, no paywall: https://wapo.st/3Dp90Zv

[Pantagruel]

1. That was an easy call weeks ago

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17218476