Down in South Texas, construction sites are turning into ghost towns—not because people don’t want jobs, but because ICE keeps showing up like an unwanted OSHA inspector with handcuffs. According to the Texas Tribune, immigration raids at construction sites have spooked workers so badly that many are staying home, bringing major building projects to a crawl. More than 9,100 ICE arrests have happened in South Texas alone since Trump took office—nearly 20% of the state total—because nothing says “economic development” like arresting the people actually doing the work.
The South Texas Builders Association finally said the quiet part out loud: without immigrant labor, construction basically stops. Their executive director, Mario Guerrero, even had to preface a Facebook video by clarifying that yes, he’s an American citizen—apparently a required disclaimer now before expressing concern about basic economic reality. Builders report double-digit sales drops, unpaid bills, stalled job sites, and a growing fear that entire businesses could collapse if the raids continue.
Economists say the consequences are predictable and dumb. Fewer workers means fewer homes, which means higher prices—exactly the opposite of what Texas leaders claim they’re trying to fix while talking about affordability and property tax relief. This isn’t even new: similar immigration crackdowns in the past led to fewer homes being built and prices jumping anyway. History, it turns out, is undefeated.
Meanwhile, the workers themselves are living in survival mode—watching for ICE instead of measuring lumber, cutting their income by more than half, and trying to feed families on whatever scraps of work they can safely take. State leaders were invited to meetings. Some showed up. Some didn’t comment. And Guerrero, now accused online of everything from exploiting labor to deserving prosecution, keeps asking the same inconvenient question: how exactly are you supposed to build Texas without the people who actually build Texas?
So what’s the plan here—deport the workforce, jack up housing prices, and then blame immigrants again when no one can afford a house they can’t finish building?
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/24/south-texas-ice-arrests-home-construction/