NEW ORLEANS – A group of homeowners from around the New Orleans area assisted by immigrant workers in rebuilding their homes and businesses after Hurricane Katrina will speak out at a press conference and rally for immigration reform Friday, August 28, 2015, at 12:00 p.m., at Loyola University’s Front Lawn, 6363 St. Charles Ave.
They want “compassionate immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.”
The homeowners will be joined by a group of immigrant workers who helped rebuild New Orleans and now call the city home. The immigrant workers will discuss their work rebuilding the city, how they have come to love New Orleans and the challenges they face living undocumented in the community.
The press conference is being organized by the Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) at Loyola University New Orleans. JSRI looks at immigration through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. A foundational belief of Catholic Social Teaching is the dignity and value of all human beings and the need for institutions and governments to serve the common good.
The 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina coincides with a time of differing views being voiced by presidential candidates in the debate over immigration, organizers said. Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans favor a plan allowing undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. and ultimately become citizens.
According to a housing survey by the U.S. census, 214,700 owner-occupied homes in the City of New Orleans were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. A study by Tulane and Berkeley Universities estimated that approximately one quarter of the reconstruction work force in 2006 was composed of undocumented immigrants.
Those scheduled to attend include members of Congress of Day Laborers/ New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice and several homeowners assisted by immigrant workers after Hurricane Katrina.
