Migrants are helping rebuild Florida after Hurricane Ian. They might not get paid for it.

The Venezuelan migrants were cold and disoriented, wandering streets in Queens, New York, looking for a white van that would shuttle them to jobs cleaning up after Hurricane Ian in Florida. 

They didn't find the vehicle. Instead, community organizers discouraged the migrants from taking a job with people they didn't know. The whole thing, they warned, was a scam.

"It sounds like human trafficking," said Ariadna Phillips, of community organizers South Bronx Mutual Aid, who intercepted the migrants and steered them to a shelter. "They recruit migrants, take them down there, don't pay them and get them deported. We've seen it with other hurricanes."

Immigrant workers from Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras and other countries are often at the center of the multibillion-dollar disaster recovery industry, and the aftermath of Hurricane Ian probably will be different. Experts predict migrants will descend on Florida to help repair properties after the deadly storm, putting their lives at danger for little pay. 

Continue reading the article HERE.