Florida’s immigrants face barriers in hurricane relief under DeSantis policies

After Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, Honduran and Mexican workers looked for work removing debris and rebuilding homes in New Orleans. Photograph: Ben Margot/AP

Hurricane Ian’s direct hit on Florida has devastated numerous communities throughout south-west and central Florida, with damage estimates ranging from $30bn to $100bn, and thousands of people likely left jobless.

Rebuilding the state will be a huge undertaking, but underlying the devastation and recovery efforts are the impacts on Florida’s immigrant communities and the barriers they face in receiving federal relief and support under the state’s rightwing Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who has pushed anti-immigrant policies in the state. An estimated 772,000 undocumented immigrants live in Florida.