[StBernard] Wearing out their welcome

[Westley Annis]

Survey: Houston residents fed up with Katrina evacuees



HOUSTON -- Houstonians are becoming less tolerant of new arrivals to their
city, especially those who have come across the Louisiana border, according
to a recent survey.


Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed -- 65 percent -- said the influx of more
than 100,000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has been "a bad thing"
for the city. Only 11 percent believe the evacuees have had a positive
impact. 
Those numbers reflect a significant souring in Houston's attitude toward
Katrina evacuee since last year, when as many as 36 percent of those
surveyed thought the influx was "a good thing." 


The Katrina responses were part of the 26th annual "Houston Area Survey" of
local attitudes and demographic traits conducted by Rice University
sociologist Stephen Klineberg. The random telephone interviews of 656 adults
throughout Houston and Harris County were conducted by the Center for Public
Policy at the University of Houston between Feb. 13 and Feb. 27. It had a
margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. 
Klineberg said some of the most surprising results had to with attitudes
toward immigrants, both foreign and domestic. Shortly after Katrina evacuees
started arriving in September 2005, he said, Houstonians prided themselves
on the warm welcome -- not to mention food, clothing, housing, jobs and
medical care -- they offered the victims of one of the nation's costliest
and deadliest storms. 
Just this month Houston Mayor Bill White had won the 2007 John F. Kennedy
Profile in Courage Award for welcoming the evacuees to Houston. But any
remaining civic pride over Houston's response had long since evaporated by
then, Klineberg said. 
Residents said the evacuees were straining the city's social services and
exacerbating crime. 
"When we did the (first) survey six months after Katrina in February of
2006, there was still this glow of how incredibly well Houston responded,"
Klineberg said. "But there were already ambivalances about all these
immigrants coming here, many of them with very few skills and no money. And
now, the negative side has grown stronger. 'We're stuck with the burden' is
really the dominating view, I think." 
And although Houstonians have traditionally welcomed international
immigration, Klineberg said, many have soured on that, too, in recent years.
Respondents split almost evenly on whether immigration "strengthens" or
"threatens" American culture. Some 44 percent of those surveyed this year
said immigration had a positive effect, while 43 percent considered it a
threat. Klineberg said that represents a significant drop from the 57-31
split in favor of immigration in 2005. 
"In both cases (Katrina and foreign immigrants), there's a growing sense
that this is a danger for the city, a burden for the city, a concern that
we've got to deal with this," he said. 
Klineberg attributes much of the concern over foreign immigration to a
"national resurgence of anti-immigration" feelings, although he said his
survey shows that Houston's response has not been one of anger or
bitterness. Although 45 percent of those questioned said they feared the
burden on government services by immigration -- and especially illegal
immigration -- 71 percent said the children of illegal immigrants should
have the right to attend public schools. That, Klineberg said, is by far the
highest percentage of positive responses since the question was first asked
in 1985.