Now D??az, like many undocumented Latino immigrants, has landed a piece of the largest demolition and reconstruction project in modern U.S. history at double his usual salary, plus meals and lodging.

While critics complain that his job should go to local workers or those displaced by the hurricane, D??az is making plans to stay as long as the work lasts or until ‘La Migra’ (U.S. immigration) starts cracking down.

“Maybe they will come and make us leave,” said D??az, who came to United States from Veracruz, M????(C)xico, about nine months ago. “But if they do, well, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Workers are hauling trash and cutting trees, fastening tarps to damaged roofs and tearing out Sheetrock from thousands of soaked buildings.

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office in August found that the number of fines issued to employers for knowingly hiring illegal workers has plummeted, from 417 in 1999 to just three last year. Arrests of unauthorized workers dropped 84 percent from 1999 to 2003, the report found.

Now the storms have blown the threat of employer sanctions away.