Quote of the Day: The aftermath of Katrina and immigration

“We were like the first to be cleaning all of the destruction up and all of the debris and all of the junk and all of the dirt and all of the mud…Now that there's hardly any work left, now they're arresting us all.”

--Isabel Aredo- a Peruvian immigrant in Biloxi, Mississippi- comments on the Latino immigrant influx to the Gulf States in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Two years after the storm ravaged New Orleans and several southeastern states, those areas are dealing with the consequences of thousands of immigrants that migrated to assist the reconstruction process.

(One recent QOTD looked at the impact of Latino immigrants on the cuisine in New Orleans).

Sources- The Clarion Ledger, Reuters, The Latin Americanist

Image- NPR (2005 image of “Jose Gandara and his partner (who) haul discarded refrigerators to the Jefferson Parrish landfill for $200 a day.”)