NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2025 — The U.S. construction sector is facing mounting labor shortages as Trump’s immigration crackdown continues to ripple across the economy. Figures from the Federal Reserve, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and industry groups paint a troubling picture: deportations, worksite raids, and rising fear among immigrant communities are fueling workforce disruptions, project delays, and higher costs.
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The construction industry, where roughly 34% of workers are foreign-born, has been particularly hard-hit. A survey conducted in late August by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) found that nearly one-third of construction firms had been affected by immigration policies in the past six months. Of those, 5% reported worksite raids, and another 10% said employees left job sites after hearing rumors of potential enforcement.
“The raids don’t just affect individuals without work authorization,” explained Ken Simonson, Chief Economist at AGC. He noted that even immigrants with legal status fear Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweeps because of the risks to family members and broader communities. “Twenty percent of respondents say their subcontractors have also lost employees,” Simonson added, citing heightened losses in states such as Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Nebraska, and South Carolina.
The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released last week, echoed those findings, repeatedly citing immigration-related disruptions to labor availability across its 12 districts. “Half of the Districts noted that contacts reported a reduction in the availability of immigrant labor, with New York, Richmond, St. Louis, and San Francisco highlighting its impact on the construction industry,” the report stated. The New York Fed said shortages had already led to project delays, while the Richmond Fed observed that contractors were “not optimistic about future labor availability.”
Some employers are testing new incentives to retain workers, including four-day workweeks, though industry experts say such measures cannot offset the systemic shortage.
Economists stress that the shortfall doesn’t just hurt immigrant workers—it undermines opportunities for U.S.-born workers as well. Ben Zipperer of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) explained that construction tasks rely on complementary skill sets. “When there are fewer immigrant roofers and framers to build the basic structure of homes, there will be less work available for U.S.-born electricians and plumbers,” he said. The loss of immigrant labor also reduces broader economic activity, consumption, and investment, further weakening job creation.
Official BLS figures confirm the unusual stress in the sector. The July Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed construction job openings jumped from 242,000 in June to 306,000 in July, a rise of 77,000 over the previous year. While openings elsewhere in the economy are cooling, demand for construction workers remains elevated.
Industry economists caution that job postings often reflect anticipated needs for future projects. Still, Anirban Basu, Chief Economist at Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), noted: “Given the continued decline in nonresidential construction spending, this increase in bids is attributable to immigration policy and its effects on the labor force, rather than to increased demand for construction workers.”
Other JOLTS indicators suggest a difficult environment. Job turnover in construction has fallen to a nine-year low, reflecting workers’ concerns about security and fewer opportunities to move to better-paying jobs. “There are no opportunities,” Simonson observed, pointing to tariff-driven cost pressures and limited hiring flexibility.
The labor crunch is directly affecting construction timelines. According to the AGC/NCCER survey, 78% of contractors reported at least one project delayed in the past 12 months, with 45% attributing delays to workforce shortages at both the prime and subcontractor levels.
For businesses and communities alike, the consequences are significant: slowed housing delivery, delayed infrastructure projects, and rising labor costs that are likely to feed into overall construction inflation.
Originally reported by Ana B. Nieto in EL Pais.
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