Construction sites around the country appear to be an increasing target for immigration raids, with more than 200 arrests in the past month.
After a halt during the pandemic and under the Biden administration, raids of employers by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have returned under the Trump administration, and more are expected.
The bulk of the detainments of alleged illegal immigrants were in Florida, but there have also been smaller enforcement operations reported at construction sites in Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Vermont.
The biggest raid so far occurred May 29 in Tallahassee, where more than 100 arrests were made at construction sites in one day. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “The multiagency operation … led to the arrest of illegal aliens from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuelans, Colombia and Honduras, to name a few.”
Other raids and arrests, according to ICE:
- 25 arrested June 4 from Mexico and Honduras during a targeted worksite enforcement operation at two construction sites at South Padre Island and Brownsville, Texas.
- 15 arrested May 27 from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras during a targeted worksite enforcement operation at construction sites in the New Orleans area.
- 31 arrested May 16 from Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador at a business and two construction sites in South Texas.
- 11 arrested May 16 from Ecuador at a staging area for a roofing construction company in Lowell, Massachusetts.
- 33 arrested May 13 from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala at construction sites near Ocala, Florida.
News organizations have also reported arrests from ICE raids on construction sites:
- Unknown number of workers for a subcontractor on a project at the main campus of the University of Texas San Antonio were arrested May 30, according to KSAT.com.
- 10 workers were arrested May 28 at an affordable housing construction project in Newport, Vermont, according to VTDigger.
Contractor Groups Respond
Twenty-five workers were arrested June 4 at Texas construction sites.U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
“That being said, it is clear that the administration has gone beyond looking for undocumented workers who are engaged in additional criminal activities and/or national security threats,” writes Brian Turmail, AGC vice president of public affairs & workforce, in an email to Equipment World. “Should enforcement activities like what happened in Tallahassee become more common, it will quickly expose the many shortcomings in the current federal approach to workforce development for fields like construction.”
Turmail sees the underlying problem being 40 years of federal officials not investing enough in career and technical education programs and there being “only a very limited number of lawful pathways for foreign born workers to enter the U.S. construction sector.”
Meanwhile, there has been a shortage of construction workers and an open border for decades.
“In other words,” he writes, “our federal policy can be summed up as: we don’t want our kids to work in construction, we don’t want to let people born in other countries lawfully enter the industry, we let a lot of undocumented people into the country, and we want to build a lot of stuff. We should not be surprised that undocumented workers are employed in this sector.
“The answer to this challenge is clear: boost funding for construction education and training and allow more lawful pathways into the construction sector.”
The Associated Builders and Contractors cites a failed immigration system and a 439,000-worker shortage as leading to the current problems.
ABC President and CEO Michael Bellaman said the U.S. should adopt a “market-based merit visa system.” Such a system would vet those wanting to work in the U.S., as well as strengthen border security and close loopholes that have led to abuse of the asylum system.
“ABC’s goal is to work with the administration and Congress to create a market-based merit visa system with a robust vetting process that allows people who want to contribute to society and work legally in the construction industry to do so,” Bellaman writes in an email to Equipment World.
ABC supports the part of the Trump administration’s immigration strategy that focuses on lawbreakers and hopes lawmakers can reach a bipartisan solution to “address our legal immigration workforce needs and disincentivize the drivers of illegal immigration into the United States,” Bellaman says.
ICE Raids and Audits Expected to Rise
Fifteen were arrested May 27 at construction sites in the New Orleans area.U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
“ABC recommends every contractor take all precautions in the hiring process to verify each potential employee is eligible to work legally in the United States, including using the E-Verify system,” says Bellaman.
The Trump administration is expected to increase employer ICE I-9 audits to 15,000 a year and conduct ICE worksite raids of 100 or more, according to Bruce E. Buchanan, special counsel for the Littler Mendelson law firm in Nashville, Tennessee, who spoke during a recent AGC webinar. He noted that the Biden administration had 300 to 900 ICE I-9 audits a year, while the Bush and Obama administrations never topped 3,000 a year. ICE raids returned under the first Trump term for the first time in 10 years. The raids ended in 2020 when the pandemic struck.
The White House has set a goal of 3,000 ICE arrests a day and reached a record 2,368 arrests of alleged illegal immigrants on a single day on June 4, according to a Fox New report.
During a raid, ICE and other law enforcement agents surround the premises and often use a plane or helicopter. They have a search warrant and arrest unauthorized workers on site. Those workers are detained, and the employer loses those workers immediately.
During an audit, ICE agents hand-deliver a notice of inspection and subpoena and demand I-9 forms for all current and terminated employers and supporting documentation, as well as other employee, payroll and business documentation.
The recent raids are being conducted by Homeland Security Investigation, ICE’s investigative component. HSI also performs I-9 audits.
“HSI conducts investigations that target egregious worksite violators,” according to ICE’s website. “These investigations lead to criminal, civil, and/or administrative judgments against employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers, which deter employers who want to hire unauthorized workers. These investigations often entail other forms of criminal activity, such as human smuggling, document fraud, human rights abuses and other violations linked to the employment of unauthorized workers.”
Both AGC and ABC have resources available for contractors on how to prepare for and respond to immigration, temporary protected status and other related workforce matters.
