A PERFECT STORM OF POLICY FAILURE

It is an under-the-radar crime epidemic: unarmed Hispanic workers are regularly mugged, beaten, chased, stabbed or shot, the police and the workers themselves say. The ruined homes they sometimes squat in, doubling- or quadrupling-up at night, are broken into, and they have been made to lie face down while being robbed.

They are shot when, not understanding a mugger’s command, they fail to hand over their cash quickly enough, shot while they are working on houses, and shot when they go home for the day. Some have been killed, their bodies flown home to families who had been dependent on their remittances.

As a result, two vulnerable groups have now been pitted against each other. Victims believe the crimes to be a symptom of black racism against Latinos, rather than the product of financial desperation and opportunism.

The trend represents the unfortunate intersection of two policy disasters -- Gulf Coast recovery and immigration. When I was last in New Orleans, it was apparent that the interminably slow redevelopment process has done little to create new economic opportunities for the city's general population. Further, it seemed that many of the jobs available hardly provided a sustainable income. In a depressed city with inadequate funding for recovery, it is unsurprising that there has sprung up a market for cheap labor from illegal immigrants who lack other means of employment. It's even less surprising -- almost inevitable -- that the tensions between the two communities are the outcome of these failures.

For more on the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, be sure to check out the upcoming special report on life after Katrina in the Prospect's March issue.

--Alexandra Gutierrez