Undocumented aliens rebuilding Biloxi, say they deserve visas

Undocumented aliens rebuilding Biloxi, say they deserve visas

E. EDUARDO CASTILLO

buttociated Press

BILOXI, Mississippi - As Biloxi rises from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, it is doing much of it on the backs of undocumented foreign workers. Some are starting to suggest that their contributions are worth at least a temporary visa.

"If we are working and helping to raise this city, at least they should give us a work visa," said Manuel Armenta, a 44-year-old Mexican who came to Biloxi five months ago to do cleaning work at a hotel.

His old workplace - and his apartment - are now in ruins, but the hurricane created plenty of new jobs: cleaning up the hotels and casinos that fed much of the economy and putting new roofing on buildings of all sorts.

President Bush long ago proposed allowing more immigrants to work in the United States legally, but so far his ideas haven't gotten past Congress.

Many migrants living here illegally constantly worry about being detained and expelled.

A visa "would help us to not have fear," said Hugo Martinez, 37, who has been working alongside Armenta.

So far, there's been little risk. The Department of Homeland Security has announced a 45-day period in which employers would not be fined for hiring undocumented workers. It said that was because many people had lost their proof of citizenship or legal residence in the storm.

Martinez said that many of the people he knows working in hurricane cleanup and roofing are undocumented.

Both Armenta and Martinez said the main thing is to earn a living, regardless of their immigration status.

"But being legal, one could be here without distrust," Martinez said.

Jose Martinez, a 40-year-old Guatemalan, said the U.S. government should somehow recognize the contribution that undocumented workers are making to rebuild hurricane damaged areas.

"Even if it was just a temporary permit, at least we could get insurance," said the former hotel worker, now laboring to remove debris at a shrimp plant.

John Keeley, director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit think-tank dedicated to lowering illegal immigration to the United States, said the immigrants' pleas "illustrate their desperation."

"The fact that they are laboring under adverse conditions doesn't change the law," he said. "They are working for profit. It's important work, but it's no less illegal."

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