Post-Katrina New Orleans as a New Migrant Destination

Abstract

The Latino immigrants arriving in New Orleans immediately after Katrina showed that they are often the first to respond to new labor demand for low-skill occupations. Using a convenience sample of this population collected between 5 and 7 months after Katrina, I investigated the sociodemographic and migratory characteristics of the “rapid response labor force” at a time when very little reliable population data were available. Whereas other articles in this issue expose the exploitative conditions that immigrants labored under during this time, this article focuses on how the Latino immigrant population in New Orleans differs from a national sample of immigrants and how national-origin groups within New Orleans differ from each other. I find that immigrants in New Orleans are younger, more often single, and less embedded in a social network than other immigrants. Within the New Orleans sample, I find that Central Americans have moved less often, less recently, and have more connections to established immigrants in the area than the Brazilians and Mexicans. The Central Americans also earn far less on average than the other two national-origin groups. The weaker and more mobile ties of the Brazilians and Mexicans may not only create greater earnings opportunities but also reinforce a practice of moving on to new destinations in search of better opportunities and more wages. In this way, recently arrived and weakly connected immigrants are predisposed to form a rapid response labor force.