ASSOCIATED PRESS May 10, 2006 Farmworkers file complaint against FEMA
Laura Wides-Munoz | the Associated Press MIAMI -- A farmworker-advocacy group accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of failing to adequately help residents in four Palm Beach County towns after Hurricane Wilma last year.
The Farmworker Association of Florida said in a complaint filed Tuesday that the agency ignored residents' repeated complaints about FEMA.
The association is demanding that FEMA investigate its response in the farming communities of Pahokee, Belle Glade, South Bay and Clewiston.
"FEMA workers consistently performed superficial inspections or ignored disaster-related damage altogether," according to the complaint, "and delayed or ignored altogether requests for assistance and misrepresented the assistance that FEMA would provide."
The complaint was filed with FEMA's civil-rights office. FEMA officials in Orlando and Washington could not be reached for comment.
The association also alleged that FEMA didn't hire enough translators for Spanish-speakers.
Many of the residents in these towns came from Mexico, Central America and Haiti and lack insurance, forcing them to rely on federal aid alone.
Under FEMA regulations, cash assistance is available only to those living in the United States legally or households in which at least one family member is here legally.
"These are all FEMA-eligible people," said Florida Legal Services attorney Cullin O'Brien, who filed the complaint.
"We're not asking FEMA to violate any of its own rules, just to heed its obligation to help people who are in need due to a hurricane devastation."
O'Brien said he thinks those in the complaint were discriminated against because of their race, ethnicity, language and poverty.
The farmworkers are not alone. Residents in mostly low-income areas along the Gulf Coast are more likely to rely on the agency than on private insurance, and many people there have complained about FEMA's slow and inadequate response after hurricanes.
The complaint does not list the names of plaintiffs.
In some cases, residents are still waiting for checks or trailers from FEMA.
In situations where FEMA did provide aid, the farmworker association alleges it was far too little.
"In one instance, Hurricane Wilma badly damaged a resident's roof and floor, but FEMA only awarded the resident $4,000" -- enough to fix the floor but not the roof, the complaint stated.
O'Brien said the farmworkers have requested a mediator to investigate the issue and have no plans to file a lawsuit. |