03/20/18 03/218 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! hour, american forces are in early stages of military operations to disarm iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from great danger. amy: 15 years ago today when the u.s. invaded iraq. ar wou go on to destabilize the middle easast ad continues today. the invasion's will be felt for generations.

iraqeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaer veteran turned peace actctivist and a sociologist who studied the impact of the war on iraqi women. thenicicicicicicicicicicicicicid houston. faced rampantavee -- >> no. there are lots of people who don't say anything. they are afraid of stirring things up. amy: a new report by the intercept documents how two houston day laborers fought back without pay for a major disaster recovery firm. we'll also look at fema's response to immigrants in houston with u.s.-born children. all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. a new channel 4 news investigation has revealed executives from the company cambridge analytica boasting about entrapping politicians and launching fake news campaigns in order to sway elections around the world. the revelations come only days analytica harvested the data of more than 50 million facebook users, without their permission, in efforts to sway voters to support president donald trump. cambridge anytytica was founded by billionaire robert mercer. and steve banannon of breititbat news.. on mony,y, chann 4 n news broaoaast videos it secrlyly recoed o of execucutis talking aboututntrapping liticicianby sendingomen t to seduce them m or sending p peope posising as developers s to proe a bribe..

this is a a clip oththe chchanne n whichank news report the repoerer wt undercover singng as potentntl clilient in order r to reveal l cambridge ananalyticaactics. the video features cbrbridge n next andeo alexaxander execututive mark humboldt, but t bensns with narration.. >> it seemems to run their clies opponents through handouts and honey traps. nd spies.s sects, tactics. >> [inaudible] the x was a comes as facebook stock plummeted monday following the revelations about how cambridge analytica harvested its data in order to

launch target of political ads in the caring of robert mercer's far right polititical agenda i . the reports have spurred calls for increased regululation of facebook. a top executive is leaving facebook amid an internal dispute over how much toowowowow russians used the platform to spread propaganda ahead of the 2016 election. alex stamos is facebook's chief information security officer. the e e e e e e e e e e e e e ea new firestorm about the cambridge analytica data breach. president trump again called for the death penalty for drug dealers during a in manchester, and a hamsher, monday. pres. trump: the ultimate penalty has toto be the e death penalty unless you have really, really powerfull penalties led y the death penalty for the really bad pushers andgoing to get now.

i'm telling you, we're going to get somewhere. amy: preliminary data from the centers for disease control and prevention says more than 67,000 peopleied from drug overdoses last year. during trump's speech, he also attacked the sanctuary city of lawrence, massachusetts, blaming the city for the spread of fentanyl in new hampshire. a package destined for austin exploded at a fedex facility in schertz, texas, northeast of san antonio overnight. the package was filled with nails and pieces of metal. early reports indicate no fedex in the explosionon. authorities s are investigatingg whether the failed package bomb is related to the serial bombings across austin, which have killed two members of prominent black families and injured six others since the first bombing on march 2. authorities said monday that the fourth explosion, on sunday

night, was set off by a trip wire, indicating a higher level of sophistication. police are investigating whether the bombings are hate crimes. to the people kililled were members of prominent african-american communities in austin. a 17-year-old teenager and a 39-year-old man. tttttttttttttttttttttttt have laid 5000 flowers onto the lawn of u.s. capitol to symbolize the 5000 yemeni children who have been killed or injured in the ongoing u.s.-backed saudi-led bombing campaign in yemen. the protest comes as the saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman is slated to arrive in washington, d.c., today to meme with psident trump. on monday, activists called on lawmakers to support a new bipartisan resolution, senate joint resolution 54, to end the u.s. military involvement in yemen within 30 days unless congress forlllly authoreses the military action.

this is activist iram ali. >> this is one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world right now and it is still ongoing.it couould be stuffed wt passing this legislation and allowing humanitarian aid in. amy: the bipartisan legislation was introduced by vermont -- the bipartisan legislation could be voted on as early as today. in syria, residents are continuing to flee the northwestern city of afrin, amid reports of widespreaead lootingy tuturkish and turkish-backed troops who seized controrol of e syrian kurdish city on sunday.yp erdogan has now vowed to continue the turkish military offensive against other kurdish-controlled areas in northwestern syria. >> after controlling the city center of afrin yesterday, we completed the most important phase of operation olive branch.

now we will continue this with others until we remove all of this corridor. amy: former french president nicolas sarkozy y has been taken into police custody for questioning amid an investigation into whehehehehehe received millions of euros in illegal campaign financing from the late libyan dictator muammar gaddafi in 2007. sarkozy has repeatedly denied the allegations.tetetetetetetet, vermont senator bernie sanders, massachusetts senator elizabeth warren, and other experts hosted a livestream town hall on "inequality in america: the rise middle class." during me discussion, economist darrick hamilton spoke about the intersections of race, education, and class. >> we are the head of

household and you are black and graduated from college, your family's wealth is lower than the of a white family with head that dropped out ofofofofoe of, can we simply work hard, study hard, and address inequality? the answer is no. education is important in its own right, so when the we shoule tuition-free public education? absolutely. [applause] as an end unto itself, we exaggerate the ecation, particur marginalized groups. would we start getting into these narratives of a post-racial's excited, we're not there. we can come up with conference of programs that include everybody, but we needo do it differently this way so that we make sure nobody is left the hind. amy: monday night town hall came as a a landmark new studyy shows rich white boys are likely to remain rich as adults, but that

rich black voice are more likely to become poorer middle-class as adults. the study, led by researchers at stanford, harvard, and the census bureau, debunks widely held ideas about income inequality and race. it shows that racism still deeply affects africican americn men's lives, even if they grow up in the country's richest neighborhoods and have similar levels of education. the study also shows the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on even the richest black men -- showing how black men who were raised by millionaires are just as likely to be incarcrcerated as white mn who were raised in poor households. reblblican appeato block t redrawing of pennsylvania's congressional map. the pennsylvania state supreme court ruled the congressional map unconstitutionally favored republican candidates andthe nes exexpected to offer a boost to

democratic candidates during the 2018 midterm elections. in arizona, a self-driving uber sunday night in tempe, leading uber to quickly suspend its self-driving tests in tempe, pittsburgh, san francisco, and toronto. sunday night's fatal crash ere was anmergency backup driver -- a human -- sitting behind the wheel. the pedestrian is believed to be the first person to be killed in association with new, cynthia and the and has officially entered the race for governor of new york. she will be challenging new york governor andrew romo in the democratic primary later this arar. in mississippi republican governor phil bryant has signed into law one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the country, banning abortions after 15 weeks even in the case of rape or incest.

the center for reproductive rights has sued mississippi over the ban, calling it unconstitutional. lawsuits by the center have blocked similar laws in arizona, nonorth dakota, anananananananan recent yea. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. it was 15 ars ago this week that the u.s. invaded iraq on the e false pretext that iraqi president saddam hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. the attack came despite worldwide protest and a lack of authorization the u.n. security council. at around d 5:30 a.m. in baghdad on march 20th 2003 air raid sirens were heard as the u.s. invasion began. within the hour, president george w. bush gave a nationally televised speech from the oval office announcing the war had

begun. coalition forcess in t the early s stages of miliy opererations to didisarm iraq, o free i its peoe, and tdefend the world from grave danger. amy: six weeks later on may 1, president bush landed on the deck of the uss abraham lincoln of t t coast of f san diego and declared the end of major combat. >> my fellow americansns, major combat operations in iraq have ended the e battle of iraq, thee united s states and ouour allies have prevailed. theighting yetllllllllllllllll end theeath toll may ver , conservative estimates put the iraqi civilian death toll at 200,000. but t some counts range as highs 2 million. in 2006, the british medical ururnal lancet estimated 600,000

iraqis died in just the first 40 months o of the war. the u.s. has also lost aboutut 4500 soldiers in iraq. just l last week, seseven u.s. service members died in a hehelicopter crash in westerernq nenear the syrian border. the war in iraq is to stabilize much of the middlelelelelelelesd others have directly blamed the u.s. invasion of iraq for the rise of isis. amy: to talk more about the 15th anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq, we are joined by three guests. professor at rutgegers universi. her forthcoming book is titled "women and gender in iraq: between nation-building and fragmentation." she grew up in france. matt howard is co-director of "about face: veterans against the war," the organization formerly known as "iraq veterans

against the war." he served in iraq once in 2004 and then again in 2005. we welcome you both to democracy nonow! professor, let's begin with you. 15 years ago today the u.s. invaded iraq. talk about whahat happened then and the repercussions. >> first of all, i would like to say as a daughter of an iraqi political exiled16 years old ate war, and i refused this. linda -- either you oppose the regime or either you oppose the war. i post the regime and we had to flee iraq because of it and i also got involved in the antiwar move in france. we also have to name the war. we have to name it as a criminal war. we have to to find it as --denee

destruction of iraq as a functioning state in society. this authorization started rererererererererererererererer. if we talked about u.s. influence in the region, we can go back to the 60's, but at least for this specific operation, we have to talk about 1991 host of u.s. led coalition bombingtetetetetetetetetetetetef iraq that were described as surgical strikes, but it targeted water a and elelectricy chools,s, bridges, hospitals, left the country and humanitarian crisis. after this terrible situation, the un's sananctions that were terrible for the iraqi population and pushed by the u.s. administration at the t t e reconstructed was plunged into a deep humanitarian crisis that destroyed its middle-class,

weakened to an extreme levels.s. before the ascension, with a free and strong education system, good health care system for functioning states. this is the situation that characterized iraqi in 2003 when the invasion happened. the iraqi society had a ready been brutalized -- had already been brutalized by violence, repression of the different uprising in the north and south. in social and economic and humanitarian crisis. the u.s. invasion exacerbated this situation, this crisis. first of all, in destroying what was left of the states, its institution and services that provide basic human needs to the society, that makes a functioning society electricity.

it disbanded the army. and also something that is vevey e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e eo remind ourselves to understand what is going on today, the rise of isis, etc., is the u.s. administration created a political system based on what i called in my words, ee u.s. administration has institutionalized racism in iraq. they have created a political regime that relies on communal-based identity. in iraq in 2003, since 2003, you're not just a political leader defined by your beliefs are you are a kurdish pb b b b r christian. this is what provoked the social, the, sectarian war in the cocotry. asas well we have to say that te

administration brought to power political elite that mainly had lived in exile, for some of them, since the 1980's. so very much disconnected with the realities on the ground. some political legitimacy inside the country, i mean, they have less legitimacy because they happen to be extremely sectarian, extremely conservative, and trtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrtrt. juan: i would like e to bring in the founder and peacemakereams in ir. he lives in the iraqi city of najaf. he moved back to iraq in 2004 after living abroad for nearly 30 years. he left iraq in the late 1970s and eventually moved to the united states and settled down in minneapolis. welcome back to democracy now! could you talk about your afterts now, 15 years

president bush declared mission accomplished, what the situation in iraq is today? >> thank you for having the show. 15 years a the tragedy continues to unfold. disasters and adversity keep trapping us. king whether we have learned anything from that tragedy. was one of thesh today,resints,s,ut yet some people think what we have currently is really bad and george bush in comparison, better.

entered -- in 2003 with no end from the invasion to occupation to and we should notrom forget about the iranian expansion in iraq. [indiscerernible] another conflict betetween the north and south. [indiscernible]

security --quality, army is not yet credit -- the ke iraq safe iraqi army is not yet credible to keep iraq safe. unfortunately, the iraraqi peope price. we're not going to continue to --- w w w w w w w w w w w w w g [indiscernible]

between all regardless if they are shia, muslims, or christians. right now [indiscernible] the project is called english for reconciliation.

six months ago, trying to bring [indiscernible] according to the american mainstream media. to break bread together. that they'rend out nothing but brothers and sisters , striking agreement by ,stablishing lasting friendship mutual understanding, and trust. are having a little trouble understanding you, but i want to thank you for being with us from iraq. sami rasouli in minneapolis growth on the

cover of minneapolis magazine. loved everything to return to his country at the height of the war to be with countrymen and women and family. sami rasouli am a founder of muslim peace maker teams in iraq was speaking to us on the anniversary of the u.s. invasion.hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a ali and matt howard, served in iraq in 2004 and 2005. stay with us. amy: in that piece you hearbrbrr

medea benjamin of inteupti congress, protesting the war.

this is democrcracy now!, democracynow.org, the war anand peace rereport. i'm amy y goodman with juauan gonzalez. as we continueurur look at the 15th anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq. we are joined here in new york by two guests. is a sociology professor at rutgers university. her forthcoming book i is titled fragmentation." matt howard is co-director of about face: veterans against the war, the organization formerly known as iraraq veterans against the war. and then again in n 2005.in 2004 i would like to begin withmatt. talk about your first employment, your sense at the time of what the iraq war was aboututututututututututututututn rms yr understanding of the war. was -- first off, i watched the invasion from okinawa, japan, when i was stationed there and had a

sense of dread that we were making a decision we could never step back from. a year later, i was stationed in iraq outside fallujah in support of helicopters evacuation. experience crystallized forexpee where i really went t t t t t te were guarding iraqi men who were laborers coming onto our base who basically spelled out everything zahra said that the quality of life had taken a dramatic hit and that everything we were bebeing told in terms of our hearts and minds and how we were going to make this place better is far from the truth that possibly be. amy: why did you end up going to iraq? where did you grow up? >> portland, oregon. i joined the marine corps when i was 17 -- before i finished high school.

that was before september 11. i deployed or went to boot camp about a mont juan the casualty numbers for iraq, given the length of the war, don't appear -- on the american side -- to have been a great. 4500 soldiers. ititititititititititititititit2, many of those soldiers injured would have in previous wars died but not for the miracle of science and medicine, but many have survived with lifelong injuries, amputatedtraumati shoe will stop can you talk about the impact on the soldiers for this constant warfare? viously, hearts and minds of the iraqi people. >> there's something that would talk a about at t the hallmark f this war which is both the way occur many time for some folks and sometimes ass many as 10 times, , , , , , , ,e

invisible wods of the war as you're mentioning, whether that is post-traumatic stress, germanic brain can or military sexual trauma that are often not tallied in the kind of figures that we have are these things. i want to make it clear that if that goes for the military, that definitely goes for the iraqi civilians that are continuing to deal with the aftereffects of this war............... that peo coming home to an underfunded v.a. and a v.a. under attack now that the trump administration that there is a mission to privatize it. soso all of thirhrhetoricic of taking c care of our troopops is very quickckly diminishes depending on people's political priorities. amy: when did you make your about-face, matt? >> good question. i% joined about-face when it was ivw in 2008.

when i came home. itit was an antiwar protest. thththwiwinter soldier hearings. were a moment when our community got together to really testify to the cost of war, both in afghanistan and iraq, and to let the american people know what was being done in our name. juan: professor, and the terms of the cost of war, last took we had a segment on the vietnam war were we talked the long-lasting damage in vietnam from agent orange, from the birth defects that occurred as a result of the war agent orange. that thet in iraq civilian population still dealing with? >> thank you for asking that. fallujah.ention

uranium wasown the usused in fallujahah. it was a dirty war. amy: white phosphorus. >> and the effect for the iraqi -- it goes even for generations. when you think of the use of ch u.s. soldiers can go back to their country, but we are still in the middle of the war. we live the war. i don't know any iraqisesesesest has not been directly affected explosiontnessed a car or lost a member of the family. is the current reality. and now when you think about the invasion of isis and the very militarization of the society

and the militarization of the public s spaces, for exampmpmpmf iraq. we have to have this image in mind when we talk about it is the capital is divided,, walls that divide the neighborhoods according to sectarian religious, ethnic belongings. i talk about it when i talk about women and human rights in general and my researcrcrcrcrcru have to pass through an armed male soldier, checkpoints. the population of baghdad, 65% of the population itself has been displaced either in baghdad worked iraq or outside iraq. amy: professor, you write in your piece about a proposed constitutional amendmentd d d dn women. article 41 is in the

constitution. what happened is since 2003, there hahahahahahahahahahaha ats made by sectarian conservatives, islamist parties i came to power with the u.s. army, to question a long text terry li sectarian le basis ofen-- women's legal rights. family law. it gathers old laws, legislations related to marriage,ncncncncncncncncncncnc, cut citi. -- custody. it is important to recall it is thererererererererererererereree time that was eliminated by the imperialist left. progressiveost groups in the region.

the participation of women's rights activists for the first iraqi and arab woman minister participated. stillcond dimension thatininins [indiscernible] it has a unifying dimension. is, i think, the political legacy that is being questioned since 2003. now we have it in the article 41. and thanks to feministcicicicic, the article 41 is still not implemented but still in the name of this article, we have so many the proposition made by conservative, sectarian, islamist parties that are in law in 2014.affree amy: in the jaffree law?

>> it is a proposition that existence fthe -- so law based on the school of law. among the things that are problematic, progressive thing for women's rights, thererereref unions in which women do not have legal protections. ifver implented, it can the age ofw marriages as early as nine years old. this is the kind of questioning of women's legal rights that is de. i also want to make a point that we tend to approach women's rights in a very simplistic manner. as if it was very abstract just as -- it is very concrete steps

when you talk about the right to vote. if you think of the right to vote, of course it is essential for women and also the sense. you also have the have the structural context that last to vote to the voting sites without being scared of being shot or kidnapped, right? for women, yet the have a functioning state, childcare, health care, education, access . as well, when we talk about the situation, a all of the militarization had already started under the regime with a different wars in the 1980's. it now we have really militarization really defined gender norms and relations toward masculine ways of defining malehoods the fact that women proction and men are the protectors of women. these are very important dimensions to keep in mind. juan: i want to ask matt, many

people we're mentioned have blamed, especially in the latter period of this u.s. intervention in iraq, the rise of isis as a direct result of the u.s. invasion and especially the attempt t of the initial rackthe coalition, in terms of reaching leaders andhe moving them from civil service, dismantling the military, basically destroying the existing institutions of iraq. i'm wondering your thoughts on thatat? what you saw directly? and 2005.here in 2004 august the, the rise and the emergence of isis was significantly further down the line. but it is pretty clear all blame that can be laid to is the u.s. government and u.s. military

really laid into his lap arounud the emergence of isis. part of that is for the pure simple fact the leadership met coalition prison they essenentially cut their teh during the occupation of iraq, fighting u.s. forces, occupiers there, and were politicized and found themselves positions in syria and other places. i think, if anything, it points to the u.s.'s role in stabilizing the region and the aftereffects addressing right now and throughout the midd and central asia. amy: i want to tony blair. october 2015, the former british prime minister speaking to cnn saying there were "elements of truth to t t t t t t t t t t t g saddam hussein playeyed a part n the creation of isis." >> you canan't say those of us o removed said am that there no

responsible for the situationn n 201515. it i is importanant also to reae that, one, the e air of spring which began in 2011 would also haveve had its impmpact on irarq todaday and, two, i isis actctuy me to p p p p p p p p p p from e in syria and not in iraq. amy: another world leader responsisible was president geoe w. bush. in 2010, in his first major before he wass fired about the iraq war. >> by the time you gave the order to start military operations in iraq, d y y personally have any doubt, any shred of doubt about that intelligencece? pres. bush: i dididn't. >> that everybody thought you should go to war. pres. bubush: i was a dissenting

voice. i i did not use of f force. >> you still have a sick thing feeling most what is therere ever a any consideration of apologizing? bush:h: apologizingng for asicallyy say the decision was >>f you knew then what you know nowow you would still go to war in iraq? pres. bush: first of all, i did not have that luxury. yoyou don't have the luxury when you are president. i will s say deftly the e worlds betterer off without saddam hussein in power, as are 25 million people who now have a chance to live in freedom. amy: that his former president 2010. bush speaking and you return home to a rack a couple of times a year, zahra ali, your character political dissenters -- your parents are political dissenters.

ndndndndndndndndndndndndndndndnd to blair? terminology, this vocabulary in the u.k. and the u.s.,it was a crime, come on. it is a criminal war and these people have to be judged for their crimes, right? but also, i want to say proven to beut t t t t t t t t very antidemocratic. when we think of the context of the invasion of isis and what happened around it, we also have to talk about the fact that in iraq, despite the very terrible situation, we do have very strong social movements. , morehave citizens recently since 2015, we have very strong grassroots popular

movement that questioned the very legitimacy of the 2003 regime, women's rights activists vovovolved in that movement. but the situation is that, in a way that is kind of comparable to here, is that this war on terror narratives is really used to justify any of repression, any kind of silent -- silencing of radical in theal activism country. amy: we want to thank you both fofor beining here.e. matt howard of about face: veterans against the war, and also zahra ali, sociology or pfizer at rutgers, french-iraqi woman who is writing a book right now on iraqi women, her forthcoming book, and feminine activists. "women and gender in iraq: between nation-building and fragmentation."

she ew up in fnce. her parents are political exiles. when we come back, what has happened to the undocumented workers who are rebuilding houston? unpaid. will bringenee feltz us report. ♪ [music break]

amy: "yellow ribbon," by emily againsthe war. she says s she wrote the sonong after speaking with fellow veterans about the yellow ribbbn magnets people put on their cars. yates was deployed twice to iraq, where she served in the 3rd infantry division as an arar 2002 to 2008. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to houston,whwhwhwy dumped more than 50 inches of rain six months ago. after the storm, tons of moldy debris had to be removed. now the city is beginning a multi-year rebuilding process. much of the work is being doneno make up at least half of the texas construction workforce. but even as their work is in high demand after the storm,

many are facing widespread wage theft. t t t t t t t t t t t t e because they fear deportation if they go to police. just last week, the u.s. fifth circuit court of appeals upheld much of the state's so-called "show me your papers" that thththththththththththththththtn status. this is a houston day laborer named adrian who spoke to the intercept. he is a mexican immigrant who was says he worked 60 hourututu0 . >> they divided my che i in a ththree avoid paying me for ovtitime. > d you askhem fofo overtime? >> no post of people a are afrad of stirring things u up. a lot immigras are

reportg. amy: undocented migrant workers ke adrn lost thousandof dolla due to ge eft aftehurricanharvey but someave faback eir pahecks byressurin e of t nation's largt saster recery fis with lp from labor advotes. learn mor we're joined twguests. inoustonmauricio igless is uston. and re in new rk, rene feltis a lgtime decracy now! pducer anaward-nning porter. her test sry for the inrcept headlined"amid rampt wageheft in po-harvereconstrucon, immiant woers take o -------------------------- and win. st novemr, she rorted on w "immrant dayaborers coront a pfect sto of ploitati in huicane harv clnup." welcome th of yoto democcy now! nee, y'reecently ck from housto scribe wt you fod. rene i w curious tfind o abouthe condions for peoe who e rebuilng houst.

fell onhe city. first, a lot of the buildings had to be cleaned out, the mud, debris, mold. than they had to be rebuilt and that process will take a long time. i wanted to see who is rebuilding and it is mostly undocumentnted immigrant labore. what i found to be especially interesting is laborers is in high demand. we also know there were storms in florida, puerto rico, fires in california -- a lot of reconstruction to be done. yet these workers who jobs were everywhere, were often not getting paid for the work that they did. part for that, as we mentioned in the introduction come is because texas has what they call a show me your papers law. when people go to police, they might be afraid that police can ask them about their immigration status. notven though it is a crime to pair worker even if they are

undocumented, these workers were not going to police to report it. we called this undocumented and unpaid, but another way to say it is undo unpaid -- until now. when it went to houston recently, i was interested to learn of some sort of good news. two workers i met with chele namedddddddddddddddddddddddddd e working on rebuilding and apartment complex in houston and ended up working several weeks and not seeing a paycheck. they inquired about it and asked, when i going to get paid? cash.ng paid in even carla was injured at some point. when she went to the hospital, she needed that cash from what she it worked to help pay for her bills. the subcontractor was not paying her. lplplplplplplplplplplplplplplpl. she sought help fr a lawyer who said, i can't do anything for you. essentially, she felt like she had no rights. even though she had just work all of these weeks. maybe cheheheheheheheheheheheheo

te us what happened when they turned to a new foothold in houston of the workers defense project. juan: -- yeshele. >> gooood morning. what happened is that hector reached out to memedia. he wanted to know what we can do to help him. he was not getting paid for several weeks. fir, he talketo me. he did not t trust me at first. but then when i spoke to him and we met and told him what we are, what our organization ishe became acquainted with us and gained -- regained his trust.

we were able to help hector and eventually filing liens against the apartment building and we were able to recover their wages. amy: amazing success. i want to return to a relatedd report that was produced about how fema resndnded to immigrants in hstston aer h hurcane rvey.. renee: half-year after hurrinene rveyey, ny homomwners who faced heavflfloodi arere sll recovering with little or no hehelp fm fema am especiayy migrgran. to talk to some of them, i met wh an orgizer with theeeeeeeee. >> you can still see a l o of mud on the streets. nee: he takes me to a workinclclass ighbhborod buiui near the intersectioofof the wawateays o otwo baus.

in lake down streets rest bouvard andake park driv >> most of the homeowners here are constrtition workers are .orkingmany are undocumented the price is low but n t ty are goi to sink and be underhehe wat. some of the house to lkk desoyeded wh visible water nenes. they're interspsesed wi fulul rereststor housesed d thanthers in very states of repair one of the first residts we meet is an immigntnt fro mexico who showus her house that flooded thth thr feeeet waterer during the storm. everythingogot damaged. , the living stove roroom. eveverhing..

we had a throw everythg g away ree: is s e house stitill damaged? >> so-sosososososososososososos. in the kitchen. renee: we're curious if opople haveve hrd from fema and what thatxpxperiee wawas ke. yes, they did help us, thank d.d. e ininsptors w we nice. the use to gift cdd om h her church to buy drywall anand inlatitiono her r sbandd could turn to papair t h house hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehei. cook he spoke a litt b bit o spish, butot mucuch. down the stet, we ststoppeto l looat one of the houses that appeed to be abandoned. this home was msising pt ofof , now looks li od.icocovereby

i lookednsnside d ththerare nono walls. four's.e just two by it looks like somee e is ling there according t t to fema, thy are saying that these heses are habitable. the way they loo t they n' look habitable to me or to any huhuman being. street, wesoss the meeticarardoa mexixin immigrant who is uoading coconstrtion matials frohiss van inin his hse, which flooded with more than a foot of water duri h hurrine h hary. asked him what was>> practicall. can you tell ushat happenedhen n fe came? >>lllllllllllllllllllllllllllly. i only spoke with them cece on my phone a t they ked d a r my sa sececity. they said there is no help for somee e withhosese ia secuty. renee: can you describe the

impa of not having fema hel >> he says for him, it feels like iwill be e same because therarare otr peopleho a are muchchorse thahim and have gotten aid andhey are still not fully recovered and there in a worse state. economically. saying he snt many his savings recovering. doing the work himlflf. renee:e go around the rnrner andd me an immigrant fm m el lvador w moved bk into h house not long after itufuffere heavy flooding from haeyey. she e lis thererwith her husband,o o relaves,s, a her children. fema helped pay for

hol l roomut t theamily y d to moveack k in thehe hse befefe it was repred. we then came back to the house e e way it was. much of an kept getting sick a lot becaee my baby girl suffers from asta a and r lulungs notot workrkptimally. myight-year-old son also has asthma. i had to bngng tm to the doctor very often. evenave e me letters to take the fe because he says our house was not livable. i spoke with fema and th told me t they uld d t pay fothe hotel beuse my house was livable. did the insctor come to e e hous >> yes, he did come to inspect but only for five to 10 minutes. he was only here a few mututes. hehe w ameririn and didot expaers. he camend only checked the front of the use. he did n go to the bedrooms or bathros.s. didid n go ananhere. renee: when she shows us the progress she anderer husnd of may so f, , eachoom m inhe

live i many windo a are sll b bei ininalled, iluding in the bedroom her children share. i asd heher if she plans to keep lingng here and she aners -- closeononononononononononononond to keep gecause we came here from our country that e not as gooas here. fi a better future here. it is diffict,t, butot imssibible renee: i am renee feltz for democracy now! fema across this response children? it still smelled like mold when i went there. the mold is going away, but many do not have windows installed in their bedrooms. other posts storm situations, these are long-term

residents. some have lived five to 20 years in houston. it is something that needs to be addressed. and thank you for that excellent report. chele iglesias. [captioning made possssible by

♪ be poor in a rich country. in a single night in 2017, there were more than half a million homeless people in the u.s. how did it come to this? if you only work hard enough, and are willing to keep learning, you can achieve anything. or so says the american dream. in 2014, the average income in the states was $66,100, which sounds quite high.bubuifif , for half of the country's adults -- so around 117 million people