AGC CEO, Stephen Sandherr joined the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) general president in an op-ed in The Houston Chronical, Trump immigration acts will hurt families, slow hurricane recovery, calling on Congress to work with the administration to ensure construction workers with legal work authorization can remain working for construction firms. The op-ed was spurred by the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras being ended by the Trump Administration. Of the 300,000 individuals with TPS, more than 50,000 work in the construction industry.
The TPS program is a category of legal status granted to individuals fleeing armed conflict, environments disaster or other extraordinary events resulting in them receiving authorization to work in the United States. The system has existed for decades and involves strong vetting and biometrics. Over the last several months the authorization for TPS was not renewed for several countries, giving them up to 18 months to leave the country. AGC is concerned that the Trump administration’s action could result in 50,000 legal construction workers without work authorization and will increase the workforce shortage in the industry.
For more information, contact Jim Young at [email protected] or (202) 547-0133.