ICE is sending a chill through the construction industry

"As cars and trucks zoom by, Rurick Palomino points to the underside of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge that spans the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., where his crew of about 30 workers is doing demolition work and pouring concrete as part of a $128 million federally-funded refurbishment. A Peruvian immigrant who came to the United States 25 years ago, Palomino a U.S. citizen built his construction firm from scratch after earning an engineering degree and learning the trade firsthand."

"For years, the construction industry in which on average one in three workers is foreign-born has struggled with a yawning labor shortage that President Trump's immigration crackdown is making worse, industry officials warn. In D.C., for example, that has meant Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) checkpoints that have swept up Latino workers on their way to and from work. "I personally saw a checkpoint here on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway," Palomino says."

Rurick Palomino points to work under the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge where about 30 workers are performing demolition and pouring concrete for a $128 million federally-funded refurbishment. A Peruvian immigrant and U.S. citizen who built his construction firm after earning an engineering degree, he once employed 45 workers but has scaled back. The construction industry, with roughly one in three workers foreign-born, faces a persistent labor shortage. Increased immigration enforcement and ICE checkpoints have raised fear among Latino and other workers. Enforcement actions are deepening the shortage, slowing projects and raising construction costs; DHS reported 400,000 ICE deportations since the start of the second term.

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