Immigrant workers’ lives, livelihoods and documents in limbo after the Hawaii fire

Jobs had been plentiful in the town that boasted a row of restaurants and shops along Lahaina’s Front Street, bordering the azure waters of the Pacific. Lured as well by its beautiful vistas and laid-back lifestyle, foreign workers had flocked to Lahaina from all over the world.

And they contributed significantly to the population and economy.

The presence of immigrant workers in Lahaina boosted the proportion of its foreign-born residents to 32%, compared to 13.5% for the United States as a whole, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated in July 2022.

The labor shortage related to the COVID-19 pandemic created more opportunity for job seekers. In February, employers were trying to fill 14,000 jobs in Hawaii — roughly double the number of unfilled job openings that existed before the pandemic, Hawaii News Now reported, citing state economists. Restaurants in Lahaina were literally hiring people off the street

Many foreign-born workers lost everything in the inferno. Some residents perished.

The Mexican Consulate in San Francisco said two men were confirmed dead and was helping to arrange the return of their remains to their families in Mexico. A Costa Rican man was also among the 100-plus dead and many more remain missing.

The consulate said some 3,000 Mexican nationals are believed to be living on Maui, many working in pineapple fields, in hotels and restaurants, and other establishments with ties to tourism.

Mexico’s Consul General in San Francisco, Remedios Gomez Arnau, dispatched three staff members to Maui to help Mexican citizens deal with the tragedy. The Mexican government has been in contact with at least 250 of its citizens in Maui, she said, and reissued passports and birth certificates lost in the fire.

“Many of them lost everything because their homes burned down, and they lost their documents,” she said in an interview Friday.

With businesses burned down, legions of those who survived are now jobless. Many are also without a place to live after the blaze also tore through housing of many people who worked at the town’s hotels and resorts. And others are without a clear path forward.

A document provided by FEMA says anyone affected by a major disaster may be eligible for disaster assistance, including noncitizens whose deportation status is being withheld for at least one year, as well as noncitizens granted asylum.