Over the weekend, thousands of people from Houston and surrounding areas were forced to find emergency shelter as a result of Hurricane Harvey. As the flooding continues, poor communities of color are hit the hardest. Disaster historian Jacob Remes summed it up:
“We will hear claims about how disasters don’t discriminate by race or class. This is a lie. Because disasters are social, they do. Disasters replicate and worsen the social cleavages and inequalities that preexisted them.”
Undocumented and mixed status families may have been particularly hesitant to evacuate because Customs and Border Patrol kept immigration checkpoints open until state highways started to close. Our thoughts are with the residents of Houston and surrounding areas that continue to be flooded by Hurricane Harvey. Please see the links below for ways to help.