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FEMA
Evicting 50,000 Families
from
Temporary Housing
Marc Morial Urges
Chertoff to Rescind Order
New York, N.Y. – In a letter sent today, Marc
H. Morial, President and CEO National Urban League, has urged
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
to immediately rescind the order to forcibly evict 50,000
families displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are currently housed
in hotels throughout the country.
“Forcing 50,000 families into the streets, in the dead of
winter, as the holiday season approaches not only lacks
compassion, it reflects an abject disregard for the significant
hardship borne by these families. Many of these families cannot
return to the Gulf Coast due to the devastation, lack of
coordination and slow pace of recovery. Yet they are also unable
to transition to other housing because social services are
stretched and housing markets are tight,” wrote Morial. “In
light of these circumstances, the United States government must
proceed in a manner that is compassionate and understanding of
the super catastrophic nature of Katrina and its impact on these
Americans."
According to numerous press accounts, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency will stop paying hotel bills for these
families as early as December 1, thereby leaving 150,000 people
with no place to go. FEMA plans to cut off financing for more
than 50,000 families in government paid hotel and motel rooms by
the end of the month. These families represent a total of
approximately 150,000 people.
“As the President and CEO of the National Urban League and
the former Mayor of the city of New Orleans, I believe that the
order to evict will further erode the already diminished public
confidence in our government and its ability to protect its
citizens. Please do not allow the Katrina victims to be left
behind once again," Morial continued. http://www.nul.org/
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No
Home for the Holidays: Stop Evictions of Katrina Evacuees
By Bill Quigley
Sabrina Robinson lived
her whole life in New Orleans. When Katrina and the floodwaters
hit her house, she and her three children swam to a dry bridge
where they lived for 2 days. "We watched people
die," said Ms. Robinson. Now her family and 52 other
families from New Orleans face eviction from the Houston
apartment complex where they lived for the last month. Tens of
thousands of other Katrina evacuees also face holiday evictions.
After a bus took the
Robinson family to Houston, they slept on the floor for a month.
On October 2, the family received federal housing vouchers from
the Disaster Relief Center in Houston. Quail Chase
apartments in Houston agreed to accept the vouchers. Ms.
Robinson and 52 other families from New Orleans moved in to
Quail Chase. After the families lived there for
several weeks, Quail Chase changed their mind and refused to
accept vouchers. Quail Chase has now given eviction
notices to all 53 families. Now they face the streets
again. "There is nothing else available," Ms.
Robinson said. "All the decent housing is
taken."
In the same spirit,
FEMA announced November 15 it would quit paying for
housing for most of the nearly 60,000 homeless Katrina
families who are residing in government paid hotel and motel
rooms.
In Texas, where 54,000
people are living in 18,000 rooms, Republican Governor Rick
Perry said these evictions will "fuel the cycle of evacuees
moving from one temporary housing situation to another " if
they can secure housing at all."
The story is being
repeated across the nation. In New York, 487 Katrina
victims, including 115 kids, have been told their hotel rooms
will no longer be paid. In the Carolinas, between 400 and 600
Katrina families in hotels face eviction even as local homeless
shelters are already full.
Back home in New
Orleans, legal aid lawyers estimate there will be 10,000
evictions filed in November against Katrina evacuees
" more in one month than are usually filed in an entire
year.
At this holiday time,
resolve to stand in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of
people victimized by Katrina and the floods that followed.
Katrina evacuees in your community need your support. Stop
the evictions in your community.
Nationally, 54 members
of Congress, including all the members of the Congressional
Black Caucus, have co-sponsored HR 4197, the Hurricane Katrina
Recovery Act. Ask your representative to co-sponsor this bill
and to take action to force FEMA to assist those still left
behind.
There are also many
other great grassroots, regional and national efforts underway
to provide solidarity with Katrina evacuees. Many are
listed at www.justiceforneworleans.org
People displaced by
Katrina do not want charity. What is needed at this holiday time
is solidarity. Resolve to stand with the victims of
Katrina as they search for justice.
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Bill is a professor at
Loyola University New Orleans School of Law He can be reached at
Quigley@loyno.edu
posted 18 November 2005 |
