WSJ Visits the RGV to Hear from Local Businesses on the Impact of Federal Immigration Raids

Hello, RGVBA Members!

Local issues in the Rio Grande Valley are gaining national attention and making headlines across America. Just a few days ago, Elizabeth Findell, a representative from the Wall Street Journal, visited the region to interview several construction businesses and workers affected by ICE raids. Among the interviewed professionals was RGVBA EO Johnny Vasquez, who provided insight about how the fear of federal agents raiding jobsites is impacting the industry.

The Wall Street Journal has since published the interviews in an article on their website titled "Immigration Raids in South Texas are Starting to Hit the Economy." See the except of the article where Mr. Vasquez speaks here:

At Monte Cielo and another development down the road in Weslaco, Johnny Vasquez, executive officer of the Rio Grande Valley Builders Association, observed flaws in newly lain sidewalk, saying that the immigration raids are leading to poor quality of work because workers with decades of experience are arrested and contractors scramble for inexperienced replacements. He noted the oddity of silent construction sites, where workers would normally be playing music.

ICE agents can be refused entry to private property without a judicial warrant, so builders have begun putting up temporary fences—another cost—around their lots, but they said some workers panic or worry agents will enter the site anyway.

Looking at a framed house with materials stacked on the roof and no workers in sight, Vasquez ticked off the people affected, from lenders and smaller contractors to home buyers.

“If nobody comes back to finish out this house, a lot of people are going to lose out,” he said.

Read the rest of the article and remarks from other RGV businesses and professionals on The Wall Street Journal website by clicking below:

Click to read Immigration Raids in South Texas Are Starting to Hit the Economy by Elizabeth Findell and Ruth Simon with photography by Christopher Lee for WSJ.