Latin American Storm Victims Adrift

Thousands of Latin American immigrants in the southeastern United States uprooted by Hurricane Katrina are now fleeing Hurricane Rita, while activists are demanding that the U.S. government provide them with special protection, because so many are hesitant to seek assistance out of fear of deportation.

Katrina left 300,000 Latinos homeless and jobless, and "as far as we know, at least two immigrants who did seek aid have been arrested because they were undocumented," said Maricel García, spokeswoman for the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC). But she warned that "there might actually be many more."

Although the George W. Bush administration states that it is providing humanitarian aid without regard to immigration status, "that is not what is really happening, which is just terrible," García said in a telephone interview with IPS from Chicago, Illinois.