Many Texas companies are reducing their reliance on migrant workers, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
One-in-five Texas companies have reduced their reliance on “workers from a different country,” the February 10-18 survey showed. That 20 percent is up from just 2 percent in February 2024.
Similarly, just 13 percent of Texas companies have increased their reliance on migrant workers in the last year, down from 41 percent in February 2024.
The 36-point shift is a useful gain for American families and communities — but still leaves a long way to go. For example, 68 percent of companies reported that their reliance on foreign workers “remained the same.”
There are many ways for construction companies to hire illegals without much legal risk. The main method is to hire subcontractors and staffing agencies, who will wrongly declare that their illegal workers are legally allowed to work.
Amid the good news, many companies are demanding the federal government provide them with more cheap foreign workers so they can bypass Americans’ increased bargaining power in the nation’s labor market, and so they can avoid investing in more productive construction techniques and technology.
A group of Texas construction companies met with D.C. Republicans in mid-February, according to a Politico report that credulously touted these demands:
The construction industry is one of the latest and clearest examples of how the president’s mass deportation agenda continues to clash with his economic goals of bringing down prices and political aims of keeping control of Congress. Even the president’s allies fear disruptions to labor-heavy industries will undermine the gains with Latino voters Republicans have made in recent years, in large part because of Trump’s economic agenda.
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Johnny Vasquez, executive officer of the Rio Grande Valley Builders Association, noted that Hidalgo County turned red for the president in 2024 — an example of gains the GOP will lose if the policies don’t shift, he argued. “For me and for our association, we need workers, whether they’re American or not,” he said. “We just need workers.”
Trump’s White House shot down the plea.
“There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump’s agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration’s commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Politico.
“We see our priorities reflected in an agenda focused on higher wages, lower costs, and more opportunity,” she added.
Various reports say Trump’s focus on Americans is helping to drive up salaries for Americans in Texas, including salaries for swing-voting Latino Americans.
“The construction industry is experiencing its most dramatic compensation transformation in decades,” said a December 2025 report by The Birmingham Group:
The current labor shortage is driving unprecedented wage increases across commercial projects. Construction firms report difficulty filling critical positions, with some markets experiencing job opening-to-candidate ratios exceeding 3:1. This imbalance has created a seller’s market for skilled workers, enabling significant salary negotiations and competitive pay packages.
Entry-level construction workers saw their wages rise by 16 percent during 2025, to $52,000, the report said.
Other estimates are more cautious. Average wages for Texas construction workers rose to $37 an hour in December 2025, according to data presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That was up modestly from $36 per hour in December 2024.
Construction wages stalled from 2019 to 2024, amid high inflation, South Texas News reported in December.
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