Illegal Aliens - Disasters Challenged Illegal Aliens

An estimated five hundred people from ninety-one foreign countries were among the approximately three thousand people who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In New York City, some of these were undocumented workers employed in the World Trade Center. From the more than 7,000 claims filed with the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which was administered by the Department of Justice, about 250 foreigners qualified for compensation, according to reporter Lisa J. Adams ("Kin Struggle for Proof of Foreign 9/11 Victims," Denver Post, September 24, 2004). Administrators estimated that about fifty of the 250 were undocumented. No doubt there were more illegal aliens lost in the disaster for whom no claims were filed. Although fund administrators took great pains to ensure that undocumented immigrants who came forward would not be reported to the INS, many families of illegal aliens decided it was not worth the risk. The stakes were high. The average settlement was about $1.3 million per claim (Kenneth R. Feinberg, Final Report of the Special Master for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, Volume 1, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice).

FIGURE 5.8
Mexican immigrants: a profile
SOURCE: Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett, and Jean Johnson, "Mexican Immigrants: A Profile," in Now That I'm Here: What America's Immigrants Have To Say about Life In the U.S. Today, Public Agenda, 2003, http://www.publicagenda.org/research/pdfs/now_that_im_here.pdf (accessed February 21, 2005)

FIGURE 5.9
Percent of immigrants who say their native country is better than the U.S., selected issues
SOURCE: Steve Farkas, Ann Duffett, and Jean Johnson, "An Even Better Comparison," in Now That I'm Here: What America's Immigrants Have To Say about Life In the U.S. Today, Public Agenda, 2003, http://www.publicagenda.org/research/pdfs/now_that_im_here.pdf (accessed February 21, 2005)

For families of illegal aliens who did wish to make a claim, seeking compensation or just a death certificate ranges from difficult to impossible. Illegal aliens often use fake names and shared housing so they have no rent receipts or utility bills in their names. Many work in jobs where they are paid in cash. Without a paycheck stub, Social Security number, tax records, money transfer receipts, or an employer who would verify the deceased as an employee, grieving families were unable to prove that their relatives were at the World Trade Center at the time of the terrorist attacks.

U.S. authorities required little more than a photo of the victim in his/her former New York workplace to issue a death certificate for missing immigrants. Yet, of approximately sixteen undocumented Mexican victims, only five families were able to prove the person died in the 9/11 attacks and qualify for compensation.

When hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne pounded the state of Florida in August and September 2004, thousands of people were left with damaged or destroyed homes. Power was out for weeks in some areas. Businesses, too, were damaged or destroyed, leaving employees with no paychecks. Among the victims were many foreign-born families, both legal and illegal, who formed the backbone of Florida's agriculture, construction, and service industries. Rob Williams of Florida Legal Services' Migrant Farmworker Justice Program estimated there were some 300,000 migrant agriculture workers in the state who lost $40 million in wages due to destroyed crops. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided a variety of financial aid to individuals and communities impacted by the disaster. Sandra Hernandez, reporting for the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel ("Change in Law Hurting the Needy," October 8, 2004), noted that 1996 welfare reforms prohibited FEMA from providing cash assistance, including loans to rebuild homes and money to recoup lost wages, to "nonqualified" immigrants. This included undocumented workers and some legal immigrants such as asylum applicants or people with temporary protected status. Undocumented residents with children born in the United States could apply for FEMA benefits in the child's name. However, many were afraid to identify themselves to a government agency. The "nonqualified" immigrants were then left to voluntary agencies that provided assistance such as water, food, and temporary shelter, but little financial aid in the midst of life-altering disaster.