Baltimore bridge rebuild is ‘too dangerous’ after deaths of six migrants, Latino workers say

Latino workers have said they are too afraid to take on jobs rebuilding the Baltimore bridge after six migrants died in its collapse last month.

José Luis Juarez, 41, from Guatemala, told The Independent that he wouldn’t work on construction of a new Francis Scott Key Bridge - even if he was paid a million dollars.

“I don’t know if that’s where I’m going to die,” the construction worker said as he visited a memorial to the late workers on Saturday, 6 April. “Yes we’re going to die, but we don’t want to die that way.”

Eight Latino migrant workers were filling potholes on the bridge in the early hours of 26 March when a huge cargo ship slammed into a column, causing its immediate collapse. The men were plunged into the Patapsco River.

Two men survived, with one rescued from the water. Six others perished.

Divers have been able to recover the bodies of Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera. Three men remain missing: Jose Mynor Lopez, 35, Miguel Luna, 49, and one who has not been identified.

The men were from a number of Latin American countries including Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala.

Mr Juarez, who has been working in construction for at least 10 years, said that he got a lump in his throat as he viewed the makeshift memorial. It is located at an intersection leading to the bridge, which police have closed off to the public.

Mourners have left bottles of Modelo, boots, prayer candles and have constructed crosses representing the lives of each of the men, each draped with a construction vest and a hard hat on top. The crosses form a circle around a grassy corner near the intersection. A sign reading “Find the missing” has been placed at the center.

“You come here, and you say maybe that could be me,” Mr Juarez said. He added that colleagues in the construction industry are also not interested in working to rebuild the bridge.

“Imagine all the days that have passed and they still haven’t found the bodies of the missing,” he said. “You imagine how the families are suffering…I have kids and I don’t want that to happen to them.”

Miguel Velasquez, 41, another construction worker at the memorial, said that some migrants who come to the US might be more willing to do the work because of a lack of options.

“The situation in this country is you don’t get to choose your job,” he said. “You have to take the jobs they put in front of you.”

Mr Velasquez, who lives in Baltimore but is from Latin America, said that he worked in construction for 10 years and now owns his own gardening business.

He said that he would refuse the opportunity to work on rebuilding the bridge if it was given to him.

“My point of view is that for people who come from Latin America and are brand new, even if they don’t want to, they have to take the opportunity,” he said, explaining the need to survive and provide for family without many options.

Mr Velasquez said that he knew Miguel Luna, one of the victims. The two played in the same soccer league and he often went to the food truck that Mr Luna owned with his wife selling Salvadorian food.

“He was a good person,” he said.

In the wake of the disaster, labor experts pointed out that it will likely be migrant workers who rebuild the bridge.

The incident has also put the plight of migrant workers in the spotlight as concerns continue to be raised over how construction workers are treated, and what provisions could make their jobs safer.

According to the US Bureau of Labor, Latinos made up 30 per cent of construction workers in 2021. In the same year, 14 per cent of all work-related fatalities were of foreign-born Hispanic or Latino workers, the majority of whom worked in construction.

Gustavo Torres, director of CASA, a nonprofit organization that helps Maryland’s migrant workers, said he has spoken to people who are deeply worried about having to take jobs rebuilding the bridge following the disaster.

He said that he plans to meet with Julie Su, acting US Secretary of Labor, next week to discuss potential safety provisions.

“They’re going to rebuild the bridge but they require and demand better salaries and protections”, Mr Torres told The Independent.

CASA sent a letter to the Biden administration this week requesting work permits for long-term workers in the construction industry, including temporary protected status and humanitarian parole.

The administration is committed to at least ensuring that the families of the victims have visas, Mr Torres said. The president met with the families on Friday during his visit to Baltimore to tour the wreckage.

CASA has called for a full investigation into the bridge collapse that took the migrant workers’ lives.

“What happened? Where were the mistakes? Who made the mistakes?” he said.

However, Mr Torres said that the organisation’s primary goal is to make sure that the bodies of the three remaining victims are returned to their families.