US Edition‘This is misery for us:’ New home construction stalls after immigration crackdown in Minnesota
Operation Metro Surge deployment of 3,000 federal officers has caused skilled immigrant construction workers to avoid jobs, delaying many Twin Cities projects amid a housing shortage.
- In the Twin Cities, new-home building has slowed to a crawl since Operation Metro Surge, worsening a steep local housing shortage.
- About 3,000 federal officers were deployed in Operation Metro Surge, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, with ICE officers stationed at construction sites waiting to make arrests.
- Mark Williams, a custom-home builder in Minneapolis, said only six of the 80 roofers he contracted were showing up and more than nine crews walked off, causing monthslong delays.
- The NAHB estimated a $2.7 billion annual impact from longer construction times, with immigrant workers making up over 25% of the construction workforce and revenues in small businesses declining between 25% and 30%.
- Siding and roofing companies now require at least four to five months' notice, and Barak Steenlage said subcontractors have refused Minneapolis projects this year; he added, `This is misery for us in the housing industry.
19 Articles
19 Articles
The Macomb Daily
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After Operation Metro Surge, new home construction stalls
Construction work on new homes in the Twin Cities has stalled since Operation Metro Surge, CNN reports. “Roofers are turning down jobs. Painters are locking themselves inside the homes they’re finishing. Concrete crews have monthslong waiting lists. In the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs, the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has slowed home construction to a crawl – at a time when Minnesota, like much of the country, faces a stee…
The roofers refuse jobs. Painters lock themselves in the houses they are finishing. Concrete teams have waiting lists of months.
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