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When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next week, he said he plans to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally. Immigrant advocates say that could impact America's ability to quickly rebuild after major damage from floods, hurricanes, fires and other disasters.

As the number of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change increases, there is a growing workforce of laborers, many of them without legal status. Some crisscross the country following extreme weather events, helping to put back together entire communities. Many are highly skilled electricians, plumbers and masons. Others do manual labor, like cutting up and hauling away fallen trees and branches.

“The fact is that the people who rebuild those areas — from Palisades to Malibu to Altadena — it’s immigrant construction crews,” said Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. “They’re the ones who are the second responders.”...

After disasters, workers are hired by residents, contractors or subcontractors to tear down moldy walls damaged by flooding, or tarp and repair roofs and windows blown off by powerful winds. They remove debris and felled trees from people’s homes, clogged streets and roadways. Then they rebuild. Those without legal status are vulnerable to exploitation and wage theft. They sleep in pickup trucks or tents, sometimes on parking lot floors or in the destroyed houses they’re reassembling. They are roofers, carpenters, tile installers and laborers.

Day laborers hired to clean up homes often don’t have protective equipment or safety training, exposing them to “severe hazardous materials” and dangerous environments, said Jessica Martinez, executive director for the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a network of labor organizations that has trained workers in post-hurricane recovery. She added that Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric also discourages workers from asking for basic resources because they fear being targeted and deported.

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