Nonprofits outline disaster safety recommendations for immigrants
Coinciding with news of an ongoing fire at a Deer Park chemical storage facility Friday, the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative released a report outlining 34 recommendations for improved emergency planning for the region’s immigrant population.
The Humanitarian Action Plan, a response to Hurricane Harvey, took a year of work with representatives from more than 40 state, federal and local agencies as well as local undocumented immigrants, said Kate Vickery, the collaborative’s executive director.
The goals for the plan are to “increase immigrant resilience, contribute to more efficient and effective disaster response and recovery, and improve the health and safety of all Houston area residents through future disasters,” Vickery said. She noted that in the wake of natural and man-made disasters, low-income, immigrant communities and communities of color are disproportionally hurt.
Vickery noted that 64 percent of immigrants reported income or job loss due to Harvey compared to 39 percent of U.S. born residents.
“Our region’s resilience is determined in large part by immigrant resilience,” she added.
One of the key report recommendations calls for a regional chemical response plan to “ensure minimal damage to ship channel industries and affected residents, the workforce and
“Our region’s resilience is determined in large part by immigrant resilience.” Kate Vickery, the collaborative’s executive director
responders in their proximity and throughout the region,” according to the report.
In a prepared statement by Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, presented by his policy adviser Juan Cardoza-- Oquendo, Ellis addressed the week’s news of chemical plant fires.
“The two industrial fires of this week in Deer Park and Baytown, remind us of the urgency of investing in low-infirst come and immigrant communities’ resilience,” Ellis said.
The commissioner added that he supports the plan’s recommendations, will work to implement them and said he calls on fellow government officials and nonprofits to play their part in bringing the recommendations to fruition.
Other notable recommendations include affordable housing
built outside of floodplains, an automated emergency notification system that allows Harris County residents to opt-out of the system, improved multilingual and multicultural disaster communication systems, and heightened and enforced labor protections for workers involved in clean-up of either natural or man-made disasters.
Marianela Acuña Arreaza, executive director of Fe y Justicia Worker Center, noted that in the wake of disasters, labor laws can be put on pause, especially when dealing with an undocumented labor force. The chemical plant fires in Deer Park this week are of particular concern, she said, when it comes to the safety and health of the clean-up crew, and whether they will receive appropriate healthy and safety training and equipment.
“The last two weeks have reminded us of the importance of having a plan like this,” Arreaza said.
Vickery said the next steps include working with nonprofits and government agencies on how to best implement the recommendations.