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06/22/2006 Vol.: 34 / No. 24 Page: 20
Construction industry heavily dependent on illegal labor
Illegal workers account for significant majority of construction work here; Estimates place total at as much as 60% in the metro San Juan area By GABRIEL PARRA BLESSING Dominico—not his real name, of course—is one of five workers and one of two illegal Dominicans at a small San Juan construction site. At first, he says he has all his working papers in order, but when massaged by a bit of friendly conversation—and reassured the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) is not waiting for him around the corner— he concedes he is one of an estimated 150,000 undocumented Dominicans living and working in Puerto Rico. Depending on whose estimates you believe, if the flow of illegal immigration on the island were staunched and undocumented aliens were deported, the construction industry would suffer a massive slowdown, and the Puerto Rico economy would slide further into a recession. And that’s not counting those who work in other critical industries such as food and beverage, security and other service sectors. However, it is important to note that due to obvious difficulty in compiling accurate data, no official statistic exists regarding the scope of illegal immigration on the island. Nevertheless, empirical evidence suggests the reality in Puerto Rico at the very least reflects that outlined by the Pew Hispanic Center, which states that 36% of insulation workers, 29% of roofers and 28% of drywall installers in the mainland U.S. are .unauthorized workers.” Of course, unemployment rate on the mainland averages 5%, so there’s a shortage of low-cost labor. A large majority of construction workers on the island—up to 80%—are illegal Dominican nationals, stated Ramón Pérez, director of San Juan’s Center for Foreigner Aid, which provides immigration and language assistance to Dominicans who desire to become U.S. citizens. He argued that far from taking up jobs that would otherwise be performed by legal Puerto Rico residents, illegal workers respond to a critical shortage in labor supply. “Locals don’t want to put up the effort—they leave hard labor pa’ los de afuera (foreigners),”. Pérez expressed. He contended that while generous federal and local government transfer programs provide Puerto Rico residents plenty of incentives not to work, illegal Dominican residents do not have access to government aid and thus must
work in order to survive. For them, work means survival, survival means work, he said. However, if estimates offered by some are to be believed, illegal Dominicans are massively unemployed. “Among the 104 companies that are members of our organization, I can tell you there is strict compliance with existing immigration laws,” assured Miguel Príncipe, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of America, Puerto Rico chapter (AGCPR). He said AGCPR-member companies account for 70% of the $6 billion yearly construction volume on the island. He admitted, however, the organization had never conducted a formal study on the matter of undocumented workers in the industry, and that he could not speak about the hiring practices of those businesses that are not members of his organization. On the other hand, Adolfo “Tito” González, president of the Puerto Rico Home Builders Association, offered a radically different picture. He estimated up to 50% to 60% of construction workers in the metro area are undocumented foreign workers, with the vast majority of those being Dominican nationals. Outside the metro area, he said, the number is lower, but still significant at “around 25%.”