Deportations Disrupt Texas Construction and Family Finances
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Immigration arrests and deportations are impacting Texas construction jobs and family livelihoods. These actions keep workers away from job sites, disrupting homebuilding projects and leaving families without a crucial source of income.
Immigration Impact
By Elizabeth Trovall
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A man, Gabriel V. Cárdenas, works at a commercial construction project in Rio Grande City, Texas. (Photo by Gabriel V. Cárdenas/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
In a video from last summer, authorities pull over a man en route to a construction job in South Texas. He is handcuffed and later deported to Mexico. His wife, Breana, a U.S. citizen, is left to manage her household without her co-parent and emotional support.
“Imagine taking away one salary when there were two,” Breana said in Spanish, recalling her husband's $500 weekly contribution to their family.
Due to her husband's ongoing immigration case, Breana asked for her family's name to be changed. Without his income, she struggles to support her two daughters and pay rent and utilities on her $13.50 hourly wage. As a result, she decides to move her family to Mexico.
Breana shared documents detailing her husband's immigration process, which involved the assistance of a costly attorney.
“It’s very ugly,” she said, wiping away tears. “We did things the right way.”
Her situation is not unique in Texas, as U.S. immigration officials have targeted foreign-born workers, particularly in construction. These actions have negatively affected homebuilders and the economic well-being of workers and their families.
Impact on Homebuilders and Workers
Chidi Umez-Rowley, a director at the Workers Defense Project, which supports construction workers and their families in Texas, stated:
“This immigration enforcement is impacting their ability even to go to work, especially to just live regular lives, going to the grocery store, the doctor; they are afraid.”
Workers, both documented and undocumented, are cautious about going to work and taking different routes to avoid being pulled over. Some documented workers carry paperwork with them at all times.
Ronnie Cavazos, a South Texas homebuilder, has installed fences around his worksites to create a barrier between immigration officials and his workers. While this provides some protection, he acknowledges the limitations.
“If you're driving a van or a work truck with a ladder in the back, or it remotely looks like you're in construction, you're gonna get pulled over. And so guys are afraid to come to work,” Cavazos said.
He noted that the workforce shortage, delays, and higher costs have made it unlikely for him to make a profit on his projects this year.
Cavazos also shares a personal connection to the issue:
“This is all I’ve ever done. My dad was a framer, also an immigrant from Mexico. In that time, he did it legally. It was easier to do it back then.”
Across the country, roughly a third of construction tradesmen are foreign-born.