Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Policies Undermine Recovery In Black Disaster Zones – Capital B

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For two months, hundreds of workers have cleared smoldering, toxic ashes in Altadena, California, removing what remains of a historic Black neighborhood. All the while, many don’t know how much longer they’ll be in the country.
Since Hurricane Katrina, undocumented immigrants have been the backbone of America’s disaster recovery system, trailing nature’s fury from hurricanes to wildfires. Yet, despite their crucial role, they often face exploitation, unsafe conditions, deportation, and even death.
The growing need for disaster recovery underscores how migrant and Black communities are interconnected. Black neighborhoods have been destroyed and disproportionately hit by these disasters. Yet they also struggle to access the funds and jobs related to recovery. With Black workers making up just 6% of the construction industry, these long-standing barriers worsen after disasters.
Now, as California and other states rebuild from the recent record number of disasters, the Trump administration is threatening mass immigration raids. Experts warn that cracking down on immigrant labor could stall reconstruction and leave Black communities like Altadena even more vulnerable to extreme weather, especially without a plan to grow the American workforce.
“Their absence leaves Black communities and other marginalized groups in unstable housing for extended periods, drives up the price of affordable housing, and makes recovery even less accessible,” said Chauncia Willis, CEO of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management.
To address these gaps, experts and community leaders are advocating for protecting immigrant workers and improving access for Black workers.
This looks like targeted training programs, improved access to capital for Black contractors, and policies that integrate Black-owned businesses into disaster recovery projects. At the same time, safeguarding the predominantly foreign-born restoration workforce is essential to ensure that heightened deportation raids do not stall recovery efforts, disaster victims and housing experts told Capital B. Together, these initiatives could transform disaster recovery into a more inclusive and resilient sector that not only rebuilds homes but also strengthens communities.
“I can’t think of a natural disaster where undocumented labor wasn’t the driving force behind recovery, whether acknowledged or not,” said Andrew Barley, who is the co-director of rebuild efforts at West Street Recovery, a Houston-based nonprofit group that helps communities rebuild after disasters.
Making up anywhere from 25% to 40% of the disaster recovery workforce, undocumented workers tarp and repair roofs, knock down moldy, water-clogged walls, and clear charred debris and fallen trees from homes. Then, while sleeping in trucks or tents, they rebuild entire neighborhoods under the table for disaster-recovery firms.
Mario Mendoza, an undocumented worker who has been doing disaster recovery work since Hurricane Katrina, remembers seeing dead bodies in the New Orleans homes he was hired to gut clean — and the bosses who refused to pay him. “We’ve been the line of support for cities after disasters,” he told the Associated Press in January, speaking in Spanish.
By limiting the current labor workforce and making it harder for new workers to join, “the current administration is making it easier [for communities] to be washed or burned off the map,” Barley added.
“We’re sucking all the skilled labor out of our communities with a lot of what the what’s been proposed at the federal level: whether it’s trying to dismantle [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], scaring skilled construction labor from coming out, or not allowing Black workers to enter the field,” he said.
Targeted training programs and improved access to capital could greatly benefit Black contractors and workers in disaster recovery by providing them with certifications, expertise, and business tools to win contracts and lead rebuilding efforts, explained Willis.
Low-interest loans, microgrants, and public-private investment funds would help small, Black-owned recovery firms to purchase necessary equipment and hire skilled labor, allowing them to compete and expand their operations. As this happens, partnerships with trade unions and industry groups would offer access to stable, well-paying jobs. Historically, Black workers, who make up only 2% of workers in construction unions, have been locked out of trade unions and industry groups.
Read More: How Black workers got locked out of construction’s best jobs
To alleviate these historic inequities, she said, it’s crucial to prioritize workforce development, give Black-owned firms preference when awarding contracts, and reform procurement policies to ensure that Black contractors and minority workers get a fair share of recovery contracts.
Simultaneously, given just how often destructive climate and weather events are battering the country, it will be impossible to rebuild without an all-hands-on-deck approach.
“If undocumented workers are removed from rebuilding efforts, we will see severe consequences for disaster recovery,” Willis said.
President Donald Trump deported 37,660 people during his first month in office, which is far less than the monthly average of 57,000 deportations in the last full year of the Biden administration. But fears are widespread. In states like Florida, heightened immigration enforcement and the looming threat of mass deportations have already hampered recovery efforts, as strict new laws have compelled many immigrant workers to leave essential jobs.
Critics, including Trump, have dismissed climate change as a hoax and accused immigrants of displacing Black workers. Yet, data indicates that immigrant labor bolsters economic growth and creates opportunities for U.S.-born workers.
And there is nothing but opportunity in disaster recovery and resilience work. In 2023, the U.S. endured a record 28 climate disasters, each exceeding $1 billion in damages. The past 12 months were even worse.
Industry analysts say America needs to bring in roughly 455,000 new construction workers in 2025 on top of normal hiring trends to meet demand. However, with small, family-run businesses largely being overpowered by private-equity firms eager to capitalize on steady funding from insurers and FEMA, the workforce has tightened.
Ultimately, as the debate over immigration policy and labor rights intensifies, the challenge remains to balance national recovery needs with increasing the labor force and protecting the workers who risk everything to restore communities in the wake of disaster.
In disaster recovery efforts, strengthening community resilience and improving opportunities for undocumented laborers and vulnerable Black communities requires fostering collaboration across different classes and races, Barley said. Every year, after the several disasters that hit southeast Texas, his organization teaches community members basic home repair and recovery skills, such as drywall work, texture painting, mold treatment, and drying out homes.
“I’m seeing people build relationships with each other across class and race, and talk to each other to figure out solutions to that after these experiences,” he said. This helps break down long-standing barriers and facilitates shared solutions to one of the country’s most pressing challenges.
West Street Recovery pays these community members for their newly acquired skills to help rebuild homes, empowering them and keeping these valuable skills within the neighborhood. It helps residents overcome some of the barriers larger companies and organizations put up to enter construction and recovery work. Grassroots fundraising and resource-sharing efforts have been crucial in this process, with individuals increasingly preparing to “lean on their neighbors more and more” in the face of potential government failure.
But to create more widespread disaster preparedness and response efforts like this means ensuring that resources — such as workers, materials, and funding — are adequately allocated to enable thoughtful and equitable rebuilding, said Carlos Martín, the director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
He said that anticipating the needs of diverse communities, including renters, homeowners, and those with vulnerable housing, is critical to effective disaster recovery. Because of the constant onslaught of destruction and the need for workers, “we have to be prepared in all our communities to think about how we will welcome new workers and laborers as permanent parts of our communities.”
“A disaster throws that all into a tailspin, right? Because some of those original firms, the builders and workers, aren’t there anymore, and they’re dealing with their own personal crises,” he said.
This also means that large construction firms need to stop “keeping Black people out of trade unions,” and need to offer fair pay and safety measures for rebuilders, Martín said. After repeatedly being exposed to asbestos, lead, and mold — the most common toxins found in post-disaster worksites — workers often report debilitating illnesses.
The widespread destruction across the nation demands a professionally trained and large workforce, Willis said, and removing an entire generation of restoration workers won’t magically create a new one.
The wildfires, hurricanes, or deportations impacting people across the nation “might be happening to you today, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be me tomorrow.”
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Adam Mahoney is the climate and environment reporter at Capital B. Twitter @AdamLMahoney More by Adam Mahoney
Capital B is a Black-led, nonprofit local and national news organization reporting for Black communities across the country.