How ironic – Venezuelan migrants are volunteering to help out in hurricane-stricken Florida, just weeks after Governor Ron DeSantis expelled Venezuelan migrants on a flight to Martha’s Vineyard.
$15 per hour, $22.50 for overtime, and a $15 per diem food allowance. (Not much you can eat on $15 a day.) This was promised to migrants who are currently staying in New York City, if they join a cleanup initiative for Hurricane Ian in Florida.
Migrant 37-year-old Javier Moreno shared that it has been difficult for him to secure work while in New York City, and that most of the migrants he’s spoken to are eager to go to Florida for work. He added that the opportunity was shared to them by a woman named “Camila” who claimed that she was from “an organization.”
FEMA told reporters that they were not involved with these plans.
It’s unclear who is paying the asylum seekers.
Some of them saw the gig from WhatsApp; others heard from group chats. But when they were asked for more details regarding the job, no one knew anything concrete. What’s up with that?
Despite the uncertainty and the lack of verified information, throngs of migrants still decided to go. At 8 a.m., many of them were already waiting at Junction Boulevard and 32nd Avenue in Corona, Queens for the bus that would pick them up.
One Venezuelan man said about 100 people had left the men’s shelter in Manhattan to participate in the work offer.
According to one of the van drivers, a water and debris company hired him to transport those who wanted to work. He said that they were “headed straight to Florida.”
Border security has been a hot topic in the US. Since earlier this year, Texas, Arizona and Florida have been transporting migrants to different cities such as New York, Washington DC, Chicago and even Martha’s Vineyard. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already received criticism after her comment on how farmers need migrants to “pick the crops down there.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was also involved in a controversy, as he sent migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard to protest the current administration’s policy.
Despite all the ruckus, Good Samaritans still exist. 36-year-old Jennifer, who works as a nurse, willingly helped the migrants by providing clothes and feeding them pizza while they were waiting for their buses. “I saw them and they’re hungry. They’ve been here the entire day,” she shared.