They cleaned up ground zero. Now many are hiding from ICE
Undocumented immigrants who helped clean up Ground Zero after 9/11 are now facing health crises and increased fear of deportation. Many of these workers suffer from long-term respiratory and cancer-related illnesses due to toxic exposure during the cleanup.
Why it matters
It highlights the intersection of national tragedy, labor exploitation, and the precarious status of undocumented workers in the U.S. immigration system.
NEW YORK — Once a week, in a Queens office building, a group of immigrants in their 50s and 60s gathers. They've all known each other for some 25 years: they met when they were cleaning up ground zero together. They are among the thousands of cleanup crews who rushed to the destruction in lower Manhattan following the attacks of 9/11. Many of those workers were immigrants and as many as 6,000 of them were undocumented. They were all exposed to toxic debris, and psychological trauma. And as the Trump administration pursues its aggressive immigration agenda, many are living in enhanced fear of immigration enforcement.
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