FEMA
and other federal and state agencies only provide assistance to holders of
Social Security Cards. These cards are issued after a person that is a (1)
noncitizen national or a (2)
qualified aliens. After Hurricane
Sandy the primary source of disaster relief: the Individual and Household
program and/or the Small Business Administration, was not available people that
were not holders of social security cards, the so called non-qualified
immigrants. (http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/01/22/who-qualifies-fema-disaster-assistance).
On
Staten Island, residents were
surveyed (MRNY, 2012) in South Beach, Midland Beach, New Dorp Beach and Oakwood.
These neighborhoods were located in New York City’s Zone A evacuation zones
during Sandy. They experienced significant damage during the storm. According
to the 2010 Census, 18% of residents of Midland Beach and 15% of residents of
South Beach were born in another country.
On
Long Island, residents of Brentwood, Central Islip, Bayshore,
Babylon, Patchogue and Long Beach were surveyed. Long Island’s immigrant population
has more than doubled in the past few decades to just over 465,000 residents,
accounting for more than 16 percent of the general population. According to the
2010 Census, more than 68% of Brentwood residents, 52% of neighboring Central
Islip residents, and more than 29% of Patchogue residents were Latino or
Hispanic. For further information
see MRNY (December 2012). Unmet Needs
Superstorm Sandy and Immigrant Communalities. New York.
Most
of the non-qualified immigrants are Latino’s from Central, South America and
the Caribbean Island of Dominican Republic. In Long Island there is a cohort of
Puerto Ricans 9although they qualify for assistance because they are U.S.
citizens by birth).
The
finding suggest that (1) people have lost their home, source of employment, or
transportation that would take them to the place of work, and that the
assistance provided by NGO’s is not sufficient to satisfy their long term
needs. (2) there are strains, and emotional outburst amongst neighbors having
to do with who received assistance and who did not, and (3) willing to
participate in cash for work programs.
Alegria
et al (2007) suggest that one of the ingrained qualities of the Latino
population is the social connection. They are frequent participants of civic
activities and show a willingness to help neighbors in times of need. This is
the case after Hurricane Sandy except that this group is neither seen or heard
by the decision makers. They are clamoring for a place in the table, where they
can have a say on their future and the future of their families.
The
literature on community based psychosocial support and Latinos suggest that
lower-income Latino’s have been found at lower-risk of psychiatric disorders
(Alegria, Canino, Simson, &Grant, 2006). Other studies (Breslau et al.,
2006 and Gonzalez, Haan, & Hinton 2005) have found higher depressive
symptom that may be caused by acculturative stress.
If
acculturative stress is compounded by the traumatic stress resulting from the
displacement, and fears generated by Hurricane Sandy, then there are long term
needs for psychosocial support amongst this population that (1) focuses on
(community and individual interactions that provide disaster affected people a
web of social networks perceived as caring and available in times of need, (2) targets weaving the
connections among family, friends, and place that will strengthen the mechanism
of social connections, and (3) provide psychosocial support activities, that
serve as stress-buffering for post disaster secondary stressors.
Finally
alleviate the fear of people coming forward and actively participating on the planning
tables of FEMA, and other NGO’s by granting a moratorium on migratory status. Their
contribution is very important for the future of our nation.
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