Houston is reeling from Hurricane Harvey. Houses on the Texas Gulf Coast were devastated over the weekend, and tens of thousands of people fled their homes. The National Weather Service expects the rain to continue through Thursday. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates more than 30,000 people will be housed in temporary shelters, calling for all hands on deck in helping Texas recover from the disaster.
But for unauthorized immigrants, dealing with the aftermath of a natural disaster has an extra layer of complexity and risk.
There are more than 400,000 immigrants without proper documents in Houston, according to the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative. To put them at ease, FEMA put out the following statement on its website, under a portion titled “Rumor Control”:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has stated that it is not conducting immigration enforcement at relief sites such as shelters or food banks. In the rare instance where local law enforcement informs ICE of a serious criminal alien at a relief site that presents a public safety threat, ICE will make a determination on a case-by-case basis about the appropriate enforcement actions.
The disaster relief agency pointed to an ICE-CBP statement issued Friday that said, “Routine non-criminal immigration enforcement operations will not be conducted at evacuation sites, or assistance centers such as shelters or food banks.”
However, as The Intercept reported the same day, the ICE-CBP statement is not entirely forthcoming. While the agencies committed to prioritizing “life-saving and life-sustaining activities,” a CBP spokesperson confirmed to The Intercept that border patrol would continue to operate checkpoints so long as state highways remained open.
The best news for undocumented immigrants in need of shelter, meanwhile, may be that shelters tend not to be run by the government. “Most shelters are managed by local communities, the Red Cross, and other voluntary agencies,” FEMA noted in its statement, and the Red Cross will not request identification from people seeking to stay at its shelters.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also said on Friday that people seeking shelter would not be asked to present identification. “It’s my understanding, from what I saw from the border patrol instructions yesterday, that it will not be an issue,” Abbott said to MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle.
So far, there have been no reports of immigration authorities using the disaster as a way of rounding up and deporting people. Astrid Dominguez, an immigrants’ rights activist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said she had not heard about any enforcement action so far. “That’s been one of the main concerns from the community,” Dominguez said. “I think the community is coming out because we understand how dangerous the situation is, and want people to call the police, and don’t be afraid of doing so. So far we have not heard of any actions on [immigration] enforcement.”
But over the last eight months, ICE has carried out President Donald Trump’s agenda to ramp up immigration enforcement by carrying out operations in traditionally safe spaces — including a church homeless shelter and courthouses — in the name of public safety. Given what we know about ICE’s ongoing enforcement practices, FEMA’s statement leaves open the question of whether the agency will cooperate with aggressive immigration enforcement agents if they do show up.
And some changes between the public statements put out by immigration authorities before and after Trump send a signal that anything is possible. In 2012 and again in 2016, for hurricanes Matthew and Isaac, ICE and CBP used the same language in both their statements (emphasis added):
In light of Hurricane Matthew, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) highest priorities are to promote life-saving and life-sustaining activities, the safe evacuation of people who are leaving the impacted area, the maintenance of public order, the prevention of the loss of property to the extent possible, and the speedy recovery of the region.
As such, there will be no immigration enforcement initiatives associated with evacuations or sheltering related to Matthew, including the use of checkpoints for immigration enforcement purposes in impacted areas during an evacuation.
That assurance, in this year’s statement, was replaced with the vague wording about “routine non-criminal immigration enforcement.” Highlighting how fraught the issue has become for federal agencies, a spokesperson for FEMA would only speak on background in order to say the agency is heavily engaged in ongoing, lifesaving efforts in response to the hurricane — referring additional questions to ICE.
If ICE does try to step in, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he’d represent those swept up himself.
“There is absolutely no reason why anyone should not call [for help]. And I and others will be the first ones to stand up with you,” Turner, who is an attorney, told reporters on Monday. “If someone comes and they require help and then for some reason tries to deport them, I will represent them myself.”
Alex Emmons contributed reporting.
Top photo: Flood victims are seen at a shelter in the George R. Brown Convention Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 28, 2017.
This is an opportunity to round up thousands of illegals. Why would we say they are exempt because of the hurricane?
We don’t need or want illegals using precious resources now of ALL TIMES.
The question is … how many of the worlds poor can we take in and still have healthcare, subsidized health insurance, and a middle class wage for REAL CITIZENS?
The left is just loony….. there are 600 million Latinos to the south with a mean IQ of 85. If American Latinos want us to serve THEIR NEEDS rather than ours… that’s treason – and another reason for mass deportation.
Latinos who want open borders are NOT MY NEIGHBORS… they are my enemy
ICE is not prioritizing serious offenders. In a recent case they arrested a dad who was driving his kid to school and left the little girl crying in the back of his car. Dad had a business in the U.S. There are more of these extreme cases.
We will have wait to see how ICE behaves in a disaster area.
Anchor babies and operating illegal businesses doesn’t create special rights or treatment for illegal aliens and I doubt the daughter was left alone in the car. If I recall correctly the dad was driving without a license which led to him being turned over to ICE and there is no catch and release so he was deported.
I don’t think it’s fair for taxpayers to pay for the sheltering and replacement housing of illegal aliens especially the criminals. The sorting and deporting those affected by the flooding is justified but won’t happen because of PR and political considerations.
ICE will return to tracking down the thousands of criminal illegal aliens around Huston and some non-criminals will be in the mix, they all get deported.
How about this? I don’t want my taxes going to support lazy people in the South and Midwest who are on government assistance, nor do I want them used for support states that don’t generate enough tax revenue to support themselves. Use my taxes to support undocumented immigrants who are hard workers and actually contribute to their communities.
What a cold heart you have to want people devastated by this disaster to be further hurt by deportation.
“I doubt the daughter was left alone in the car”
There is a video of that.
The taxpayer would be much better of if these 11 million undocumented persons would be given the necessary documents. It would also enable them to get a drivers licence.
I doubt the girl was abandoned in the car by ICE, she would have been turned over to family or children’s services.
The legal immigrants who follow the rules of entry into another country deserve their residency documents. Those illegal aliens who pay criminals to smuggle them into the US, use phony documents bought from criminals and avoid paying taxes deserve nothing but a trip home.
Giving documents to the about 800,000 already convicted criminals in this group will certainly help their subgroup to flourish.
“Giving documents to the about 800,000 already convicted criminals in this group will certainly help their subgroup to flourish.”
The taxpayer would be better off with a pardon for the undocumented. People convicted of serious crimes could be excluded, and in my opinion trafficking humans is a serious crime. So, that leaves just 10 million new citizens.
I think about 25% of legal immigrants become citizens so I doubt this illegal group would be much different. Many seem to keep their ties to their homeland and even plan on returning to retire with their SS benefits.
If ICE is allowed to capture and deport a large percentage of the criminal element in the illegal alien community there might be reasons to look at the non-criminal majority less harshly and offer some path to legal residency.
This might produce some more taxpaying but this being a low income group they would qualify for a variety of expensive welfare programs at taxpayer expense.
Criminals are criminals, serious or not so serious, and we don’t need any more petty thief’s, wife beaters or murders we have plenty of the home-grown variety.
I particularly hope those illegals you are saying we should let die or refuse shelter to don’t come back to rebuild. Karma is a b!tch.
You need to gat a handle on your hysteria, no one is being left to die and the illegal aliens can be sheltered in detention facilities before they are deported. The rebuilding jobs can go to legal residents and citizens who need the work.
I don’t get it — this seems like a non-issue.
Either the shelters do not require identity cards be checked before people ask for a cot and a bottle of water, in which case they do their good work for everyone, even the illegals — or they do, in which case Americans who fled when the dike failed and their house was swept away are out of luck because they didn’t dive into the raging torrent looking for plastic cards.
In the first case you have no problem — in the second, you would have a much more pressing problem than illegals, because American citizens would be shafted the exact same way.
Undocumented… You mean like they lost their papers – or you mean here illegally?
Because if the title was “Are US government shelters a good place for people here breaking US immigration laws?” I think the answer should be clear – and unexpected.
I’m pretty sure US immigration laws are not dependent on the weather.
no.
America is for americans.
The illegals that have come to the US from south of the border since 1975 need to be transported back.
Exactly, North and South AMERICA you moron. This country was founded by people from all over the world.
How about you get deported back to wherever your ancestry is from in Europe.
Remember, President James K. Polk stole (“war”) 40% of Mexico’s land!
Examine all of your history pendejo!
My ancestors came here legally, by way of Ellis Island. We have their records and entry papers to prove it. Not only that, they spoke English when they arrived. They were from Ireland. And yes, “No Irish Need Apply” was very real… Irish people were indeed barred from many places of employment. That’s why many of my relatives of my great-grandparents’ generation went on to work the railroads, and became firemen and police officers… because those were the only jobs available to them. But you know what” They worked those jobs. They raised families. Those kids worked, some went to college… the next generation went to college, they worked. They didn’t come here looking for a handout, and they wouldn’t have gotten a handout, anyway.
Illegals have NO RIGHT to take up emergency space and resources that are for LEGAL residents and CITIZENS. ICE and Border Patrol ought to be checking papers and jailing and deporting ANYONE who isn’t here legally. I don’t care how old you are… if you are here illegally and try to steal– yes, steal– resources and shelter space from a US citizen who needs it in a disaster like this, you need to be yanked out and put on a plane back to your homeland before the sun sets on your a**. Anyone trying to come in by way of a ‘damaged’ border needs to be shot on sight, just like any other burglar or trespasser in a disaster. No questions… shoot to kill.
This post is EXACTLY why family reunification of Latinos is a death sentence for America.
Latino’s allegiance is to the 600 million to the south of us and not to America. We cannot have healthcare, education, subsidized flood insurance and other benefits AND take in the worlds poor.
but that is the priority of Latinos who vote KIN not country. Round em up and ship em OUT.