The effects of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants continue to reverberate among the Hispanic community, leaving the roofing industry shaken by its impact.

Trump campaigned on a promise to conduct mass deportations, saying his administration would focus on immigrants illegally in the country with criminal backgrounds. So far, his second term has resulted in multiple public ICE raids, arrests and deportations.

As a result, more roofing contractors and their workers were recently the targets of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests. The actions have caused everything from disruptions on job sites to potentially deporting workers whose criminal records contain minor offenses.

Supporters of the renewed enforcement, including Hispanic voters, laud the president for removing criminals from the country. At the same time, the actions are at odds with the roofing industry’s continued push to be more inclusive of the Latino community, making up about 30% of the roofing workforce.

This year’s International Roofing Expo catered to the community by implementing AI programs that translated real-time presentations, while signage was printed in multiple languages. 

Many Latino contractors are evolving their careers from workers to business owners, attending events held by groups like Latinos en Roofing, GAF’s Latinos in Roofing, and SRS Distribution’s Para Latinos that emerged over the past few years. 

According to UnidosUS, Voces Unidas, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Climate Power en Acción, a recent bipartisan poll of the Hispanic electorate shows 78% of voters believe it’s crucial to deport dangerous criminals but 49% feel the Trump administration’s deportation policies put them or their families and friends at risk.

“There continues to be a large gap between Latino voter positions and current actions, including on immigration, where Latinos reaffirm their support for legalizing the long-residing undocumented people and oppose draconian immigration measures like deporting people without due process,” said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS, in a written statement.

With roofing employing about 75,000 undocumented workers to make up for the lack of a skilled workforce, the industry is feeling the impact from ICE’s actions, such as those below.

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37 Arrested During Immigration Raid at Wash. Roofing Company

A Dilemma for Contractors

A month ago, reports came out of an ICE raid at a roofing company in Bellingham, Wash., where 37 people were arrested in what was considered the first full-scale workplace raid in the state. 

As reported by KUOW, court records show that Mt. Baker Roofing had prior knowledge that ICE was investigating its workers. In January, Homeland Security received a tip that the company was employing people without legal status in the United States. A month later, investigators asked Mt. Baker Roofing to prove it only employed authorized workers.

The company produced I-9 documentation for 84 people who worked for it over the past year. Among those records, investigators reportedly found 56 employees who used fake residency cards or falsely reported being U.S. citizens.

Roofing companies often turn to E-Verify to confirm whether workers are authorized. E-Verify is a free internet-based system that compares information entered by employers from an employee’s I-9 to available records with the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security information.

According to KUOW, Mt. Baker Roofing didn’t use E-Verify. When asked why, the employer said it wasn’t required and that his competition wouldn’t use it. Investigators alleged the owner, who wasn’t identified in KUOW’s report, knew of the fake papers and used that to obtain a warrant for the raid.

Adam Belzberg, an attorney based in Seattle, told KUOW that employers face challenges when verifying an employee's status.

“If you really inspect it and take it upon yourself to look really hard, you could be accused of discriminating on the basis of national origin, or in Washington, under our state law, immigration status,” Belzberg said.

In a statement to KUOW, an ICE spokesperson said worksite immigration enforcement actions protect opportunities for the country’s lawful workforce.

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ICE Arrests Roofing Crew as Fear Creeps into the Field

Minnesota Roofers Released After Being Detained by ICE

Two roofers were released after ICE agents detained them while working in Duluth Heights, Minn.

According to Northern News Now, Outlast Construction hired the contractors through a subcontracting group called Strong Tower Construction Inc. in southern Minnesota. 

Outlast Construction owners said that of the two roofers detained, one was a U.S. citizen and the other had documentation on their person. They were returned to the job site about 45 minutes after being detained.

“I think that we would like to find a better system where this doesn’t happen again, so our job sites don’t get interrupted, and the homeowner doesn’t get disturbed again,” said Rober Prophit, an employee of Outlast Construction.

This is among the most recent stories to come out of Duluth. According to the Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action group, on Feb. 28, five roofing contractors were detained by ICE while at a job site.

ICE Seeks Deportation of Buffalo Roofer

In a story from the Investigative Post, ICE looks to deport a Buffalo, N.Y., roofer whose criminal record reportedly consists of traffic citations.

In late April, ICE agents arrested Saul Valverde-Venegas, a roofing contractor, while he was loading his truck. In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said he had “unlawfully” entered the U.S. more than a decade ago and had “since acquired several vehicle and traffic law violations.”

The Investigative Post said court records show Valverde-Venegas entered the U.S. in May 2013. The ICE spokesperson told the Post that border patrol agents “encountered him near Rio Grande Valley, Texas” and detained him in September. Court records show that he was released a week and a half later.

An immigration judge in Philadelphia closed Valverde-Venegas’ case in February 2016, a common mechanism during the Obama administration to allow immigrants to remain in the country without legal status.

QUICK READ: 5 Takeaways

• ICE Crackdowns Disrupt Roofing Industry: Increased immigration enforcement under President Trump’s second term has led to raids and arrests on roofing job sites, severely impacting operations.
• Hispanic Workforce Caught in the Middle: Although Latino workers make up roughly 30% of the roofing workforce and are increasingly becoming business owners, many face deportation risks — even for minor offenses.
• Legal and Ethical Dilemma for Employers: Roofing companies face pressure to verify legal status but risk discrimination lawsuits if they scrutinize too closely; some, like Mt. Baker Roofing, are now targets of ICE raids.
• Industry Calls for Reform: The roofing industry advocates for immigration reform, including the H-2C visa program, to address labor shortages while providing legal work avenues.
• Mixed Reactions Within the Hispanic Community: While many Latino voters support deporting criminals, nearly half worry that current policies could harm their families, highlighting a divide between enforcement and public sentiment.

Immigration Reform

Labor remains a top issue for contractors, listed by 61% of commercial contractors and 38% of residential contractors as a top perceived challenge in RC’s 2025 State of the Industry Report. It’s why the National Roofing Contractors Association continues to push for legislation supporting immigration reform.

At the 2025 Roofing Day, roofing professionals went to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the industry, including the Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act, introduced during the 118th Congress as H.R. 3734. 

This proposes the creation of a new nonimmigrant visa category known as the H-2C visa. This would address labor shortages by permitting temporary nonagricultural workers to fill positions that remained unoccupied for a specified duration in areas where the unemployment rate is 7.9% or lower. 

The bill is awaiting consideration for reintroduction in the 119th Congress.