Latino Workers Helped Rebuild New Orleans, But Many Workers Weren’t Paid

A file picture dated 21 October 2005 of a woman walking past a mountain of debris that took up entire city blocks from homes destroyed in the Lakeview section of New Orleans, Louisiana, following Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of Latino workers, mostly immigrants, helped rebuild the city. BEVIL KNAPP / EPA

“We called him when we were done with the house, but he didn’t answer,” Alvarado said, adding that they later learned the contractor had left to Texas and had no intention of paying them. “He ended up owing us a total of $12,000 for the work that we did for about a month.”

Read the full story here.