Humanitarian
Action Plan

Executive Summary

Immigrant resilience is foundational to the Houston region’s resilience

When Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017, many called it an equal opportunity disaster. But immigrants are disproportionately impacted and slower to recover from natural disasters than those born in the United States.1 Immigrant resilience is essential to our region’s resilience – our ability to withstand and mitigate the stress of disaster.

In 2017, 23% (1.6 million) of the Greater Houston region’s residents were born in another country. While an estimated 506,000 (33%) of immigrants are undocumented (10% of the total region), many more families have “mixed” legal status, meaning that some in the household have some type of legal status – such as permanent residency or citizenship – while others in the household are undocumented.2 In 2016, immigrant households contributed $124.7 billion (26%) to the Houston metro area’s gross domestic product (GDP), held $38.2 billion in spending power, and contributed $3.5 billion in state and local taxes.3 Immigrants are critical to Houston’s workforce. In 2016, 32% of workers were immigrants, and 10% were undocumented. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, construction workers – more than half of whom are immigrants – were in particularly high demand.4

Immigrants, particularly low-income immigrants, are disproportionately impacted by disasters. A December 2017 study found that immigrants were more likely than U.S.-born respondents to report income or job loss due to Harvey (64% versus 39%).5 Research has long documented that less-privileged residents often suffer losses in economic, social, and cultural resources after disasters, while more-privileged residents tend to recover more quickly and may even benefit financially. In fact, the more aid an area receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the more wealth inequality grows as a result of both physical damages and how recovery resources are designed and distributed.6

A November 2017 survey of 351 day laborers found that nearly two-thirds (64%) who identified as being undocumented indicated they do not feel safe asking for help from government officials for fear of risking their own or their family’s security.7 Despite growing anti-immigrant policy on the federal and state level, the Houston region’s sentiment toward immigrants grows more positive annually: Harris County residents who favor granting undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship if they speak English and have no criminal record grew from 75% in 2014 to 82% in 2018.8

PREREQUISITES

We must use our continued Harvey recovery efforts to build the systems needed for a more equitable recovery for immigrants, regardless of legal status, through future disasters for a more resilient region.

The Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC) calls on Harris County and City of Houston government and non-profit agencies, including funders, to incorporate Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP) recommendations into their strategic emergency planning. HILSC and our network of more than forty organizations have already begun. We thank Houston Mayor Turner for his Welcoming Houston commitment to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness in the development of a disaster preparedness plan focused on immigrants and refugees and stand ready to partner in this complex endeavor.9

Fundamentally, decision makers must: