Can fence be built without immigrants?

Can the U.S. border fence be built on deadline without the help of foreign laborers?

With 670 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border fence slated for completion by year's end, construction companies in Texas are questioning the feasibility of completing such a project without immigrant labor.

The irony is not lost on businesses that have come to rely heavily on foreign-born and Hispanic workers to fill vacancies left by a shrinking domestic labor pool.

"Is it possible to construct a wall without undocumented workers?" asked Perry Vaughn, executive director of the Rio Grande Valley Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. "It's probably borderline impossible to be honest with you."

In recent years, the construction industry has seen a dramatic increase in undocumented foreign-born Hispanic workers, according to a Pew Hispanic report published in 2007.

Based on information collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, the report also found that foreign-born workers held one in five construction jobs in 2006.

In Texas, that percentage is unquestionably much higher, said Jerry Nevuld, president and CEO of the Houston Chapter of AGC.

If foreign-born workers were taken out of the equation, Nevuld believes, it would put undue strain on an industry that is already stretched thin for skilled labor and make construction of the fence a near impossibility.

"There are a significant number of illegals working in construction," Nevuld said. "If you try to build a wall, but take a few thousand workers out of the workforce first, you could have some real problems."

Commercial construction operations are usually careful not to knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Businesses are required to have employees file the I-9 form eligibility verification form, but some undocumented workers invariably slip through the cracks in the system.

In the late 1990s, the Golden State Fence Co., a fence-building company in Southern California, hired undocumented immigrants to build millions of dollars' worth of fencing between San Diego and Mexico.

The company received several warnings, but federal agents found undocumented workers still on the job in 2005.

In 2006, the company agreed to pay $5 million and its executives pleaded guilty to hiring undocumented immigrants.

A start date for segments of the fence in Cameron County have not yet gone out for solicitation, said Barry Morrissey, a spokesman with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but when they do companies that bid on those projects will be heavily scrutinized.

An industry already under the microscope, only companies accepted into the Construction Multiple Task Order Contracts program can even bid on government projects.

Despite the additional oversight, the likelihood for illegal labor working on the border fence remains a distinct possibility.

"It could happen anywhere in any industry on any given day," Morrissey said.

The agency takes immigration seriously, and companies caught using undocumented labor will face legal recourse, according to Morrissey.

"It's very plain," Morrissey said. "Legally, it's unacceptable. Contractually, it's unacceptable. If we find illegal immigrants working on these projects, we'll have to take legal action."

The AGC straddles a political fence too.

Although the association favors immigration reform that would allow its members to tap into a reservoir of workers across the border, the association also supports increased border security and in some cases the presence of a physical barrier.

The potential for irony underscores the complexities of the immigration debate as few other circumstances have.

As director of congressional relations for AGC, Kelly Knott advocates for immigration reform for the construction industry.

She doubts that Congress will take action this year, believing that the situation will get worse before it gets better.

"They want to make it so hard on employers and the business community" Knott said, "that perhaps it will force Congress to take action."

Immigration is constantly on the mind of Raleigh Roussell, president and CEO of the Dallas chapter of AGC.

He hopes the issue can be resolved soon, so businesses can get back to focusing on projects.

However, he doubts it will impede the progress of construction on the fence.

"They'll find a way to get the job done," Roussell said. "I would say there'll be some mix of domestic and immigrant labor, a fairly high mix, but it'll get done."

Foreign-born workers held one in five construction jobs in 2006.

SOURCE: The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau