Undocumented Immigrants Are Too Afraid to Seek Shelter From Hurricane Irma...

[HipChick]

What a country we have become..

With Hurricane Irma barreling down on Central Florida, Apopka resident Carmen Nova had a decision to make.
A Mexican immigrant living in the country illegally, she knew her mobile home was at risk in the storm. But the 30-year-old mother of three also knew that seeking protection could pose its own hazards.

In a time of increasing public sentiment against illegal immigration, undocumented immigrants like Nova are nervous about reporting to authorities, even if it is to take refuge from a hurricane.They're getting hammered," said Kendrick, who has worked hard in advance of the hurricane to convince undocumented immigrants that it is safer to take shelter than to remain in less-than-sturdy homes.Like other counties in Florida, Apopka's Orange County issued an evacuation order for people living in mobile homes, which are also known as manufactured homes and are a popular housing choice for immigrants.

Fears among immigrants in the area were heightened in recent days after the sheriff in neighboring Polk County pledged to check criminal records of people seeking shelter.Although the statement did not mention immigration status and officials later clarified that undocumented immigrants would not be targeted, the warning nevertheless reverberated in migrant communities.
The area's undocumented immigrants historically came to the area to work on farms but in more recent years have shifted to construction, landscaping and housekeeping.

Tirso Moreno, leader of the Apopka-based Farmworker Association of Florida, said the Polk County warning had an impact in Orange County."It scared people," said Moreno, who also spread the word with immigrants that they must take shelter.Moreno said he was not convinced that all the undocumented workers he spoke with would take his advice, saying some were likely to wait out the storm in their mobile homes.
http://fortune.com/2017/09/09/hurricane-irma-undocumented-immigrants/?utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=time_socialflow_twitter

[Me.]

1. Dear God

[democratisphere]

2. Rocketing backwards in time.

We have become a pathetic country.

[lunamagica]

3. They've been saying on TV that there is nothing to worry about because their immigration

status will not be checked. I hope that is true

[Doreen]

4. I fear a lot of immigrants are going to die.

I just have vision of shelters turning into detention centers for some. If they are checking for criminal records and some one is here undocumented in some peoples mind that means they are criminals. My heart goes to our undocumented people.