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Monday, May 02, 2011

Illegal immigrants wary of aid in US tornado zone

TUSCALOOSA: Recent tornadoes ravaged immigrant and other low-income communities in the US state of Alabama, but undocumented aliens say they are reluctant to openly seek help out of fear of arrest and deportation.

Tornadoes left a wide swath of destruction through this university city, leaving at least 39 dead and several missing, and poorer neighborhoods such as Alberta and Holt, where many immigrants and African-Americans saw their homes left in splinters, were especially hard hit. Illegal immigrants were keeping a low profile Sunday, but about 30 of them gathered at Holy Spirit Catholic Church for a Spanish-language noon mass and to receive donations from the community.

About 20 immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala whose homes were destroyed spent the night at the church on mattresses alongside tables piled high with donated clothes, shoes and food boxes. Children ran about as women discussed the tornado terror and how unlikely it was that anyone of them had survived. Many more have come to the makeshift shelter to receive hot meals, only to return quickly to their damaged homes, in part to reduce their exposure in front of local authorities overseeing search and rescue operations and police who have set up checkpoints to ward off looters.

While Alabama officially claims only eight missing across the state, that figure could be considerably higher, given the hesitation of some immigrants to come forward for official assistance or to report missing loved ones. afp


Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk

 

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