A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to grant special visas to construction workers, as the Trump administration’s deportation campaign is reportedly causing labor shortages at construction sites in states like Texas.
The Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, introduced in September, offers temporary, renewable visas to non-citizens for up to nine years to work in key industries where employers are struggling to hire.
“This helps us protect and get immigrants legally for those in the construction industry,” Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) told Nexstar.
De La Cruz was part of a group of South Texas leaders who met with House Speaker Mike Johnson this week to discuss the proposal, as homebuilders in the state warn of reduced construction times and difficulty renting due to fears of immigration raids.
“They eat Monte Cielo and say, “No, no. You can pay me whatever you want, but I’m not going to work there,” said Alejandro Garcia, a home builder who works on a development in Weslaco, Texas, which has been raided several times. The Wall Street Journal last week.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for a program to offer temporary visas to construction workers, as homebuilders struggle with shortages in the face of Trump administration immigration raids (Getty Images)
A concrete supplier in the region, meanwhile, told the paper that concrete use dropped by 60 percent between May and November, as builders lost workers and projects stalled.
“A project that was taking maybe four to five months on an average, starter-type home is now taking eight, nine, 10 months, just because of the delay,” Efrain Gomez, treasurer of the South Texas Home Builders Association, told NewsNation. “It’s a huge ripple effect.”
Immigrants, legal and otherwise, make up more than half of the construction workforce in states like Texas, California, Florida and New York, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The Trump administration’s immigration campaign has clashed with key industries such as agriculture, hospitality and construction that rely heavily on the labor of immigrants and undocumented people.
The Trump administration has faced tension over its immigration goals and the high proportion of migrant workers in key industries such as agriculture (AFP via Getty Images)
The administration pushed to expand the H-2A visa for farm workers, and last year, Trump hit a pause on raids on hotels, restaurants and agriculture, only for the administration to insist days later that there would be “no safe spaces for industries that harbor violent criminals or that deliberately try to undermine ICE’s efforts.”
The administration has faced similar tensions over the specialized H-1B visa program, which is being used heavily by the president’s allies in the technology industry but reduces its focus on hiring American workers.