The raid resulted in the detention of more than 100 illegal aliens at a construction site in the CollegeTown neighborhood of Florida’s capitol city.
If you thought such a massive sweep of illegal aliens would be greeted with applause from community leaders, according to reporting by the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper you would be sorely mistaken.
Instead of welcoming the capture of more than 100 criminals the business leaders quoted in the paper’s coverage of the raid decried enforcing our Nation’s immigration laws because it would drive up costs.
In doing so they all but admitted that hiring illegal aliens, and paying them substandard wages, was part of their business strategy.
According to the “experts” interviewed for the article the raid may increase project costs and delay completion times due to the difficulty of replacing workers.
While the construction executives interviewed for the article were circumspect in how they phrased their concerns there was no denying they count on illegal aliens to dilute the labor pool to lower costs.
Indeed, the Tallahassee Democrat reported as costs in the construction industry climb, experts say the labor market is often targeted for cutting costs when possible.
"It will also probably increase its costs because replacing labor is expensive in an ever-shrinking pool of labor. Replacing people takes time," said Shawn McIntyre, managing partner for North American Properties, adding framing labor alone is difficult.
He said the construction industry in Florida and nationwide are facing the same challenge: a shrinking of the labor force that leads to "simple supply and demand."
By a “shrinking labor force” they mean a labor force without illegal aliens willing to work for less than American laborers will work for.
"I understand the plan is to get the violent criminals off the street and out of the country, but we need to keep commerce moving as well," said Ed Murray, a principal at NAI TALCOR, whose company works closely with major developers. "It's a chilling effect, but I think it's still got to be determined how this plays out.
Brad Parker, a partner and broker at TLG Real Estate in Tallahassee, said there's a sense of sympathy for those who are legitimately trying to make a living and have “no criminal record.”
"If there are criminals mixed in amongst them, then certainly deal with that," Parker said. "But if a guy's out making a living and has got a clean bill of health, and we've got to find a way to bring these guys into our country legally and allow a path for legal citizenship."
According to reporting by Engineering News-Record, the multiagency enforcement raid was directed by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Tallahassee, with significant assistance from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. The agencies' statement said there were illegal workers from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Honduras among others arrested at the two sites. While a full breakdown of those arrested was not provided by the agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said more than half were arrested for crossing the southern border multiple times or for multiple previous arrests while being in the U.S. illegally.
So much for having “no criminal record.”
The agencies did say one person was taken into state custody for resisting arrest and is being charged with four counts of assault on law enforcement officers, and another person was arrested for attempting to point a weapon at officers.
"These types of enforcement actions aim to eliminate illegal employment, holding employers accountable and protecting employment opportunities for America’s lawful workforce,” ICE HSI Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno said in a statement. "HSI Tallahassee, working alongside our state, local and federal partners, will continue protecting public safety by enforcing the immigration laws of our nation."
What’s the bottom line?
The construction executives and real estate experts reaction to the raid pretty much confirms that in their minds profit for themselves justifies destroying the quality of life and economic future of native-born American construction workers and their families.
- illegal immigration
- ICE Raid
- Tom Homan
- Secretary Kristi Noem
- Donald Trump immigration policy
- Governor Ron DeSantis
- Construction industry
- labor shortage
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- Tallahassee
- illegal alien labor
- labor market
- criminal illegal aliens
