End of Katrina labor windfall strands workers

NEW ORLEANS — Groups of immigrant laborers crowd the sidewalks along Elysian Fields not far north of the French Quarter, jockeying for spots in the shade of a tree.

Predominantly from Honduras, these workers gather each day and patiently wait in the hot August sun for someone willing to hire them.

Wearing mainly worn jeans and faded T-shirts, these laborers seem out of place.

In the three years following the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, there was an enormous demand for laborers here.

Undocumented workers found regular work in demolition of severely damaged houses and buildings and easily earned $1,000 a week.

But after the first three years, the demand dropped off.

The city's demographics today reflect the influx of Hispanics into New Orleans and other coastal areas with heavy damage. Hispanics represented 4.4 percent of the city in 2000 but have increased to 6.6 percent in 2009.

Among the group of 15 Honduran day laborers standing idly mid-morning Aug. 16 near a bus stop, 29-year-old Tony, who holds residency in the United States, remains in New Orleans looking for work.

He said in the immediate aftermath of the flooding that left 80 percent of New Orleans underwater, he was paid about $150 daily and could easily find work.

But the last two years have had fewer opportunities.

Today, illegal laborers earn between $80 to $100 a day if they can find work.

Tony said, "Usually, out of a crowd of about 30 people, only one or two will be hired a day."

Of the 15 immigrants there, Tony was the only one who spoke English relatively well.

His family arrived in Houston when he was 12, and he was enrolled in school but was unable to finish. He entered the work force instead, mainly as a laborer.

Since then, his family has relocated to Florida, and he eventually moved to New Orleans.

Like Tony, many of the immigrants there had come from Houston and originally Honduras.

Tony says work has been slow the past three years, especially since demolishers are no longer needed, and businesses hire for those jobs. Tony plans to move to Florida in December.

Mainly laborers are males who send money back to their families.

It's rare to see a female, and even less common, two females gathering among male laborers to find work.

Jackeline, 38, and her niece, Bety, 18, were the only two female workers waiting with the other men to find a job.

Jackeline is a registered nurse in Honduras, but she works in cleaning and labor with her niece.

Bety has a teaching certificate in Honduras but instead is working for money as a cleaning lady to send money back home.

Bety says she wants to return to Honduras. Unlike Tony, Jackeline and Bety only have each other in the United States, but are embraced by the close-knit local Honduran community.

Their apartment complex houses and feeds immigrants who come from Honduras looking for jobs.

It is a system that allows everybody to share food, shelter and clothing the basic necessities.

Jackeline will continue to work for two more years in New Orleans and try to send money to her family in Honduras.

Why do these laborerers wait day after day for work to find them?

Juan Carlos, 40, answered with, "No hay otra manera," "there is no other way."

His family in Honduras depends on his wages, and he depends on job opportunities, even if it means standing for more than 12 hours in the heat every day.