Crackdown on Undocumenteds Would Impact Housing Prices

Forthe home building industry, the immigration debate raging in Washington isanything but abstract. It’s the biggest issue nobody wants to talk about.

FrankFuentes, president of the Hispanic Contractors Association, queried his 20largest member firms about speaking with Fortune Magazine, and not one waswilling. “They’re scared to death of being raided,” says Fuentes.

ByFortune’s estimate, up to 40 percent of new-home construction in the U.S. isbeing done wholly or partly by undocumented immigrants. Fuentes suspects thepercentage in his home state of Texas is closer to 80 percent.

Accordingto a study by the Pew Hispanic Center, 36 percent of insulation workers, 29percent of roofers, and 28 percent of drywall installers are “unauthorizedworkers. Click here.

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