A Richmond-area homebuilder says stepped-up immigration enforcement is making it take longer to build new homes, part of a broader disruption builders across Virginia and Maryland say they've felt over the past several months. Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield have recorded more than 2,700 deportation orders since October 2025, among the highest tallies of that kind in the state.
The builder's account, reported by Axios, points to a workforce that leans heavily on immigrant labor. Virginia's construction industry overall is nearly 28% foreign-born, and the construction-trades workforce specifically is almost 38% foreign-born, according to the outlet's analysis of National Association of Home Builders data drawn from 2024 census figures. Nationally, foreign-born workers make up 26.3% of the construction workforce, per that same reporting — though the industry-forecast site glassglobal.com has put the national foreign-born construction share closer to 30%, a discrepancy the available data doesn't resolve.
Certain trades are even more reliant on immigrant labor. Foreign-born workers account for 57% of drywall and ceiling installers, 56% of plasterers and stucco masons, 53% of roofers, 53% of painters and paperhangers, and 51% of carpet, floor and tile installers, the Axios analysis found. The available data does not break down how many of those workers are naturalized citizens, visa holders or undocumented immigrants, the outlet notes.
Effects Reported Across Two States
ICE enforcement has reached beyond individual job sites. Vendors throughout Virginia and Maryland have felt the impact of enforcement activity over the past 90 days, and immigration enforcement has affected construction cycle times and builders' ability to start new houses, according to the same Axios reporting. Similar disruptions have surfaced elsewhere: builders in Houston and Jacksonville have reported labor shortages, rising labor costs and construction delays tied to immigration enforcement.
Rick Palacios, research director at John Burns Research and Consulting, said the comments from builders came without prompting. Palacios told Axios the remarks were “unprompted and completely unsolicited,” after his firm conducted a builder survey earlier this month. Bill Owens said immigration raids can discourage legally authorized workers from showing up to job sites at all, a chilling effect that can ripple through a crew regardless of any individual worker's status. Not everyone agrees enforcement is the core problem — Lauren Bis said there is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow the labor force.
A Rough Month for the Broader Housing Market
The Virginia reports land against a national backdrop of souring builder sentiment. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell three points to 32 this month, its lowest reading since September 2025, according to a Reuters report carried by lufkindailynews.com. The decline, the report said, reflected labor shortages amid an immigration crackdown alongside other pressures on the industry.
Those other pressures are piling up. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.76% the week before that report, its highest level in more than a year, the same account notes. Builders are also contending with higher material costs driven by tariffs and the war in Iran, along with growing competition for resources, per the Axios reporting. The share of builders cutting prices rose to 38% this month from 35% in August, while the use of sales incentives climbed to 66% from 63% the same account states.
Labor Supply Squeeze Shows Up in the Numbers
Beyond Virginia, the broader construction labor market is showing signs of strain tied to immigration policy. Immigration policy shifts, alongside an aging workforce, are tightening labor supply industry-wide in 2026, according to a construction-industry forecast published by glassglobal.com. That same forecast found construction job openings have fallen 38% as firms remain hesitant to expand their workforces, while material costs are running about 5% higher year over year.
Not every corner of the construction sector is contracting. Data center construction rose 33% in 2025 and is projected to grow another 20% in 2026, per the glassglobal.com forecast — a reminder that labor and material pressures are landing unevenly across different types of building. For homebuilders trying to finish single-family houses, though, the combination of enforcement-linked labor gaps, rising rates and costlier materials is showing up directly in how long projects take and how builders are pricing them.
