SURVEY: 35% Of Contractors Already Affected By Immigration Enforcement

As the construction industry grapples with its dwindling workforce, many in the space are starting to feel the pressure the White House is putting on the industry’s foreign-born workers.

More than a third of general contracting firms across the country reported they have been either directly or indirectly impacted by the ramp-up in immigration enforcement actions, according to a new survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and the National Center for Construction Education and Research.

That number is expected to rise.

“I think it's early days foreseeing these enforcement actions at jobsites and construction, because it has such a high percentage of foreign-born workers,” AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson said on a webinar discussing the data Thursday afternoon. “And they are fixed jobsites for an extended period of time. They're an easy target for enforcement.” 

Five percent of respondents said one or more of their sites have been visited by immigration agents. Another 10% said they have had workers quit or fail to show up out of fear of being detained or deported, and 20% were indirectly affected when subcontractors lost workers.

“My sense is [immigrant workers] are lying low because even if they are legal, I think there's a fear of a raid and then being caught up in something that is very distraught, to their family and to them,” NCCER CEO Boyd Worsham said on the call. “I do think that with the heightened awareness, the heightened concern is probably exacerbating the problem of people staying away from work.” 

The survey was conducted in July and August, directly after President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law, which allocated roughly $170B to immigration enforcement and border security efforts and $75B in new funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The construction industry already faces a shortage of about 450,000 workers and could be hit even harder if it loses its unauthorized immigrant labor pool, which makes up about 15% to 23% of the sector, according to a February Skanska report.

The AGC-NCCER survey, which polled more than 1,000 general contractors nationwide, found that 92% are experiencing trouble finding the necessary labor for projects. But while construction industry leaders are trying to fill the gap by increasing the workforce pipeline with education and trade programs, that won't make up for the immigrant labor being lost.

“It will take at least a few years before any new investments translate to significant numbers of new qualified workers,” Simonson said. “In the meantime, Congress and the Trump administration must provide more lawful pathways for people to enter into or remain in the concrete of working in construction.”

Trump campaigned on the promise to launch the “largest deportation program” in the country’s history. After a summer surge in enforcement actions, deportations reached a new high in August, with an average of about 1,500 people detained and removed from the country per day.

The administration has also targeted work authorizations for more than 500,000 foreign-born workers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The White House confirmed it set its sights on worksites, sparking fear on construction jobsites as enforcement actions build. Some jobsite raids have resulted in more than 100 arrests. 

Even some of the country’s largest developers and landlords haven't been able to avoid it — a Prologis-owned bonded warehouse was raided in New Jersey last week.

The impact varies across states, with an increased impact in the Sun Belt region, though due less to geographic location and more to the demographics of where immigrant populations reside, Simonson said.

According to the report, the state that has been hit the hardest by enforcement actions is Georgia, where 75% of general contractors reported impacts.

Executives from three general contracting firms were on the webinar with Simonson and Worsham: Sykes Weaver General Contractors founder and principal Hasting Sykes, Rabren General Contractors Vice President Mike Scarborough and McCownGordon Construction Chief Operating Officer Steve Levy.

While the contractors answered questions on how they are attacking the industry's labor shortage by recruiting and retaining workers, they didn't answer questions about how they are handling immigration enforcement actions.

Simonson said the AGC has approached the topic by educating owners and managers on-site on what to expect if an enforcement team shows up and how to handle it — as well as handling inquiries from journalists.

“We're trying to educate owners as to how to respond to questions like the media questions we're getting today to give a correct impression of what the industry is doing and what it needs to do when they're asked about an enforcement action that affects their company or their subcontractors,” Simonson said.

The trade group is launching a digital media campaign to the White House, the Department of Labor and the Department of Homeland Security with data from the survey at the beginning of September, said Brian Turmail, AGC's vice president of public affairs and workforce.

It will address the labor shortage first, but Turmail said it will also address the steps the administration has taken in immigration enforcement and how it affects the industry.

Simonson called on the administration to open opportunities to foreign-born workers.

“This should include establishing a new construction-specific temporary work visa program,” he said. “It should include a pathway for people already in the country, whether they are cured by the temporary protected status program, seeking asylum or undocumented, who will lawfully remain in the country and continue to contribute to the American economy.”