Katrina gulf relief funds said held up

GULFPORT, Miss., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Two months after allocations of billions of dollars in Katrina relief aid began Mississippi Gulf Coast subcontractors say they are not being paid.

As a result, they told The Washington Post, they cannot pay their workers, mostly immigrant laborers employed in painting homes, removing debris and other salvage chores.

The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance has prepared complaints for more than 150 immigrant workers, both legal and illegal, and submitted them to the Labor Department.

The complaints are asking Labor to compel at least five subcontractors in Gulfport, Biloxi and other gulf areas to compensate the workers for as much as $100,000 in unpaid work.

The allegations came to light during a forum on Katrina-related immigrant abuse organized by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington last week.

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