Rebuilding New Orleans: Immigrant Laborers and Street Food Vendors in the Post-Katrina Era

by Sarah Fouts

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Central American and Mexican immigrants arrived in New Orleans to help clean up and rebuild. When federal relief services overlooked the needs of immigrant-led construction and cleanup crews as part of post-Katrina mass feeding strategies, street food stands and taco trucks stepped in to ensure food security for these workers. Many of these food vendors settled in the city over the next decade, opening restaurants and other businesses. Yet, in a city experiencing whitewashed redevelopment, new immigrants were frequently pitted against Black poor and working-class New Orleanians for access to housing and other resources.

During Fouts’s five years as a volunteer with the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, she came to know and interview the day laborers, food workers, culture producers, and community organizers whose stories shape this book. Her work reveals how, after the storm, immigrant communities have culturally and politically reshaped New Orleans and its suburbs. Fouts also highlights how immigrants forged multiracial solidarities to foster inclusive change at the local level. By connecting migration, labor, and food, Rebuilding New Orleans centers human experiences to illustrate how immigrant and established communities of color resisted criminalization and racial capitalism to create a more just New Orleans.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 9, 2025

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite detective series is set in New Orleans and the city has always fascinated me. I read several books about the impact of Hurricane Katrina and how people ‘lived’ through it. This book is a bit different as it’s written by someone who spent time in among and helping in the rebuild of the city. It is a harrowing read and a brilliant read but it shows the exploitation and political game playing of officials and people with power.

Ms Fouts tells the stories of the immigrant labourers and day workers who came to make money to feed their families. They weren’t the one making profit from misery. They were the ones trying to ameliorate the misery but they were treated very badly. Some of it seems quite shocking until you remember America elected a felon to the White House.

Over time those workers started to band together - across the races - and protect each other. They set up their own ‘safe zones’ for restaurants and food trucks and helped train and educate the staff and the labourers.

This is a hard read and at times it is heartbreaking but ultimately it is a hugely positive story of the way humanity can be when it really matters. It is a testament to these ‘small’ people who were visible on the ground and made a difference.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley