agchouston.org Fall 2025 Cornerstone 17 the H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers visa, asylum or humanitarian parole, but there is no construction-spe- cific visa program. Current Immigration Enforcement Status “We’ve also had a fairly open border for the last several decades, so we have a large pool of undocumented workers,” he continued. Given the circumstances, it’s not a surprise that the United States, and Texas especially, relies on a heavily foreign-born labor workforce. According to a webinar hosted by AGC of America on July 17, 2025, the Trump administration’s recent “big, beautiful bill” allocated approximately $30 billion for increased ICE enforce- ment and deportation operations, tri- pling their previous budget. This funding aims to enable the hiring of 10,000 more deportation officers and expand agreements with state and local officials to enforce federal immigration laws. While the immediate impact of new hires is uncertain, a noticeable increase in audits, raids and warrants is expected within a few months of the October 1 funding implementation, potentially reaching 15,000 to 25,000 I-9 (employment eligibility verification) audits annually. “ICE enforcement is no longer a distant threat. It is a present reality and activity targeting the construction sector,” stated Claiborne Guy, director, employment policy and practice at AGC of America. “General contractors are fac- ing heightened scrutiny and operational risk from surprise jobsite raids to formal I-9 audits.” Houston’s general contracting indus- try, like many across the nation, depends significantly on immigrant workers. Many individuals are legally authorized to work in the U.S., but a portion operate under uncertain or unauthorized status; it’s common, too, even for legal workers to worry about being “rounded up” in the masses and detained indefinitely. As enforcement priorities shift, con- tractors — especially HR and company leadership — are grappling with how to protect their workforce, projects and businesses while remaining compliant with the law. Employers should focus on developing clear strategies, not speculation. Primary Enforcement Used by ICE: ] Judicial Warrants: Signed by a judge or magistrate and based on probable cause, a judicial warrant authorizes enforcement to enter a location, surround the worksite, and take documents or people as the warrant indicates; this is the feared “ICE raid” which often involves a large presence of individuals from various agencies. ] Administrative/Agency Warrants and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO): Often, ICE will have names of specific employees and will have administrative warrants allowing the removal of only those particular individuals. However, ICE does not have the authority to enter non-public areas of a worksite without employer consent when executing an administrative warrant. ] Notice of Inspection (NOI) and I-9 Audits: The least intrusive and most common form of enforcement, agents will come in to deliver an NOI and often a subpoena, then take employ- ment eligibility verification-related paperwork for current and recently terminated employees (currently one year back, though they can go three years) along with other documents such as payroll records, quarterly reports and owner information. Com- panies typically have three business days to produce I-9s, with more time often granted for other documents. Managing Anxiety on the Jobsite Despite Texas’s proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border and state Gov- ernor Greg Abbott’s 2024 legislation that expanded state-level immigration enforcement authority to allow law enforcement officers to arrest individu- als suspected of illegal entry, there have been surprisingly few arrests and all-out raids in the greater Houston area; most of the immediate immigration enforce- ment efforts have been administrative warrants and audits. Still, stories of sudden arrests and detentions have circulated widely among immigrant communities, amplifying anxiety even when actual enforcement activity remains limited. “A lot of employers in the Houston area are not E-Verify users, and approxi- mately 44% of the area workforce is some kind of immigrant, whether authorized or not,” said Tony Stergio, shareholder at Andrews Myers, PC. Employers can satisfy their I-9 obligations for every hire but may still receive inauthentic or forged documents. “If an employer is fact-checking and maintaining I-9s, it’s less likely they’re going to end up on ICE’s priority list,” Stergio continued. Conversely, though, he cautions that employers with I-9s that aren’t in compliance may be put on a priority list for more enforcement action when there is a raid in town. When employees know ICE is in their area — and they do, because of social media and apps that track activity in the area — they tend to be on edge. “It’s scaring a large portion of the workforce who have questionable status as well as those lawfully allowed to be here, and that’s creating a higher rate of absen- teeism,” Turmail interjected. “And, when workers don’t show up, it impacts deadlines.” Stergio also warns to be wary of apps and trackers, because the information they provide may either be inaccurate or exaggerated. With employees on edge, circumstances are often blown out of proportion, and low-key enforcements are wrongly reported as full-scale raids. Even isolated enforcement actions can significantly hinder jobsite morale and attendance.
