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# AGC: Immigration Enforcement Hit Nearly 3 in 10 Construction Firms
- URL: https://www.ridgereport.news/agc-immigration-enforcement-hit-construction-crews-2026/
- Published: 2026-09-11T16:53:11.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-24T15:28:46.000Z
- Description: July–August AGC/NCCER survey: 29% of firms felt enforcement effects, 42% in the South. Roofing shops already short on craft labor need a plan that is not wishful thinking.
- Author: Ridge Report
- Tags: Labor, Business

Nearly three in ten construction firms in a fresh [AGC–NCCER workforce survey](https://www.agc.org/news/2026/09/03/construction-workforce-shortages-remain-acute-despite-soft-market-conditions-data-centers-strain?ref=ridgereport.news) said immigration enforcement hit them somehow in the past six months. For roofing owners already fighting [craft shortages](https://www.ridgereport.news/signing-bonuses-not-fixing-crew-shortage/), that is not a politics story. It is a production and schedule story.

## The numbers from July–August 2026

[AGC](https://www.agc.org/news/2026/09/03/construction-workforce-shortages-remain-acute-despite-soft-market-conditions-data-centers-strain?ref=ridgereport.news) and NCCER fielded the survey in July and August. About 1,830 respondents answered at least part of it. Seventy-one percent reported no effect. Of the rest:

What it means for your crew

- Treat AGC’s nearly 3-in-10 hit rate as a schedule risk—especially in Southern storm corridors.
- Map which subs and self-perform crews are most exposed; build backup capacity before peak season.
- Monday checklist: verify I-9 posture with counsel and dual-source critical trades.

- 16% said subcontractors lost workers
- 12% said workers left or no-showed because of actual or rumored enforcement
- 6% said agents visited a jobsite or off-site location

Region mattered hard. AGC chief economist Ken Simonson said at a Sept. 3 briefing that 42% of Southern respondents were affected, versus 37% in the Northeast, 22% in the West, and 17% in the Midwest. Roofing shops heavy on Gulf and Southeast storm corridors should treat the South number as their baseline risk, not the national average.

## What the survey did not prove

Simonson told *Roofing Contractor* that hard proof tying enforcement to specific delay costs is still mostly anecdotal. Homebuilders are seeing schedule breaks when framing or concrete crews vanish after a rumor. Larger multifamily and nonresidential GCs can sometimes reshuffle. Mission-critical work with no float — data centers, tight commercial roofs — cannot afford a lost day.

Separately, the same survey wave shows the labor floor you already know: 87% of firms have openings for hourly craft workers, 88% of those say filling them is as hard or harder than a year ago, and 42% say workforce shortages delayed projects — the top delay cause named. The survey did not pin that 42% only on immigration. Skills gaps, no-shows after hire, and missing licenses still dominate.

## What shops should do Monday

- Map which trades on your schedule are single-threaded (tear-off, torch, TPO weld, framing partners). Build a backup bench before a rumor empties a day.
- Keep I-9 and E-Verify hygiene boring and current. Panic paperwork after a visit is how you compound a labor hit with a compliance hit.
- Talk to your [H-2B](https://www.ridgereport.news/signing-bonuses-not-fixing-crew-shortage/) or other visa counsel now about FY timing, not after a second-half cap closes. Cap math has bitten seasonal roofing for years running.
- Fund the slow pipeline: apprenticeships, manufacturer academies, and returning veterans. AGC is explicit that training takes years — which is why you start this quarter, not “after storm season.”
- If you rely on a single sub for Spanish-speaking production crews, you do not have a crew strategy. You have a concentration risk.

> Seventy-one percent felt nothing. The shops that get hurt are the ones with no second crew when the first one disappears for a week.

The Ridge Report take: enforce the law and staff the roofs are both real. Owners who only complain about one side will still miss squares. Dual-track — legal workforce channels plus domestic training — is the boring answer that keeps trucks rolling.

*Figures from the AGC–NCCER July–August 2026 workforce survey as reported by Roofing Contractor (Sept. 4, 2026) and Simonson’s Sept. 3 briefing.*