Immigrants will play a crucial role in hurricane recovery efforts:
"After Hurricane Katrina, grocery and big box stores all over the Gulf Coast found themselves having to create whole aisles devoted to Latino food.
Mexican food trucks were everywhere in New Orleans.
What caused this transformation of the food scene?
Immigrants coming north to help rebuild after the storm.
...As areas of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida face a long and historically expensive recovery from Harvey and Irma, they need to learn all they can from Katrina.
One of those lessons was the importance of immigrant labor in the rebuilding process.
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.
...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 Mexico and the Caribbean.
That influx of labor will push wages back down, closer to where they were before..."
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