Immigrants contribute to Colorado in many ways such as by starting businesses, voting and holding office upon naturalizing, and stimulating local economies with their spending. In addition, immigrants supply the skills and labor that are necessary to recover from natural disasters, as evidenced by events related to the recent catastrophic floods in Colorado.
The U.S. government relies on foreign expertise and
contractors to augment its capacity to respond to emergencies. For example, one of our clients, HeliQwest
International, a Canadian company with an office in Colorado, is participating
in search and rescue operations in areas where people have become isolated due
to flooding and road damage. The
Forestry Department is using one of HeliQwest’s helicopters and its personnel is
heavily engaged in these flight missions. HeliQwest has also provided helicopters for
firefighting operations during the many forest fires that have ravaged our
state in the last few years. Many of
their employees are Canadians who have highly specialized skills related to
aircraft operation and maintenance.
There is a shortage of U.S. workers in this area. Thus, these immigrants’ knowledge is
indispensable to these types of operations.
Without access to services such as HeliQwest’s helicopter charters and
supporting personnel, the United States government would not have all the
resources it needs to fight wildfires and to ensure that people are out of
harm’s way when disasters occur.
Moreover, immigrants also supply the labor that is
crucial to recovery from natural as well as human made disasters. Indeed, many immigrants, included the
undocumented, work in the construction business. Immigrant workers were a major source of
labor during the reconstruction of New Orleans after hurricane Katrina
devastated the area in 2005. There are claims
that thousands of undocumented workers helped clean up ground zero after the
September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. It is likely that many immigrant workers in
our state will participate in reconstructing and repairing the roads, homes,
and businesses severely damaged by flood waters and mudslides. Without them,
labor would be scarce and this scarcity would certainly prolong the recovery
period.
This kind of catastrophic event reminds us that not
only do many migrants come to the United States to increase their quality of
life, but that the quality of life in the United States depends on foreign
workers as well.
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