The recent wave of immigration enforcement is finally doing what Washington has refused to do for years: enforcing the law. Across multiple cities crews showed up short-handed or didn’t show up at all as workers stayed away amid ICE activity, and that disruption has businesses — and the national conversation on immigration — in turmoil. Good: enforcing our borders and our laws should always be the priority, even if it makes bosses who skirt the rules uncomfortable.
You may have seen the viral clips of installers and subcontractors fuming because jobs fell apart and commissions evaporated when crews didn’t appear. Complaints that “ICE ruined my workday” miss the real scandal: the daily bargain that many contractors strike with illegal labor to undercut pay and avoid proper payroll, taxes, and safety standards. If you build your business model on cheap, off-the-books workers, don’t act surprised when federal authorities show up to enforce immigration law.
Americans who play by the rules are the ones getting the short end of this arrangement. Homegrown tradesmen and legal immigrants who jump through hoops to enter the workforce legitimately face wage pressure because unscrupulous firms prefer undocumented labor they can exploit for a few dollars more profit. That’s not compassion — it’s a racket that rewards lawbreaking and punishes honest citizens and documented workers.
The left and much of the media portray these enforcement actions as cruelty, but the truth is inconvenient: a market distorted by illegal labor requires law enforcement to restore fairness. Some industry groups even warned that fear of enforcement has left day-labor spots empty and slowed projects, but that’s a policy problem, not an argument to tolerate lawlessness. If Democrats want labor stability, they should stop romanticizing illegal work and start backing legal pathways that put applicants through proper vetting.
Let’s be blunt about solutions. Enforce employer accountability with mandatory E-Verify nationwide, hit repeat offenders with real penalties, and secure the border so the illegal labor market dries up. Conservatives should champion both the rule of law and robust workforce development — invest in apprenticeships, vocational training, and incentives to bring Americans into the trades rather than relying on a shadow economy.
There’s also a human side the open-borders crowd ignores: documented immigrants and citizens are scared and harmed by the unpredictability of an economy propped up on illegal labor. Many legal workers fear being swept up in enforcement sweeps or losing work to undercutting contractors, while law-abiding businesses pay the price of playing fair in a rigged market. Enforcement protects those who followed the rules and pressures employers to hire legally and pay properly.
Do not accept the media’s moral panic about “raids” without context. The construction sector has long suffered a labor shortage that was exacerbated by reliance on undocumented workers, and recent enforcement simply exposed the industry’s dependence on cheap, irregular labor — it didn’t create the underlying problem. We should demand policy fixes that reduce incentives for illegal hiring and expand legal, orderly immigration pathways tied to real labor needs.
Patriotic Americans want secure borders, fair wages, and a labor market that rewards skill and hard work, not lawbreaking and cut-rate contractors. So when ICE shows up and crews disappear, don’t pity the agency for doing its job; hold employers accountable and pressure politicians to stop pretending this crisis can be solved by open borders and excuses. It’s time to stand with the rule of law, back American workers, and rebuild an honest market that respects both employers and employees.
