President Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages for California's construction industry. The shortages come at a time when Los Angeles is trying to rebuild after January's devastating wildfires. Carter Evans reports.

Los Angeles

California's construction industry is experiencing notable labor shortages due to heightened immigration enforcement actions, particularly ICE raids. General contractors report that many skilled workers, especially those who are undocumented, are not showing up for work out of fear, leading to smaller crews and delays on job sites.

This shortage is especially problematic as Los Angeles works to rebuild thousands of homes destroyed by recent wildfires. With about 41 percent of California's construction workforce being foreign-born, industry experts warn that ongoing deportations could further deplete the labor pool, resulting in higher costs and longer delays for consumers.

California's construction industry hurt by ICE raids, builder says

The president's crackdown on illegal immigration is leading to labor shortages in some industries, including healthcare, agriculture, and construction. Here's Carter Evans. This construction site has just about everything you need to build a traditional family home. Everything except enough workers. We have probably three people on site, four people on site, and normally we'd have about double. We have about eight to ten people. Where are they? They're hiding. People aren't willing to come to work. Jason Petruska is a general contractor in Los Angeles. He says he only hires builders here in the country legally, but he also relies on companies that employ highly skilled, undocumented labor. Many of those workers are now no-shows because they're fearful of the ramped-up ICE raids. If a company has five trucks and there's two guys per truck, and half their crew doesn't want to come, that's literally three jobs or two jobs that can't be performed. The labor shortage comes at a time when more than 12,000 homes destroyed by recent fires in L.A. County need to be rebuilt. About 41 percent of the construction workers in California are foreign-born, and according to a report, the rise in deportations will deplete the construction workforce statewide, including those specializing in drywall, flooring, and roofing. Petruska says this is already causing longer construction delays and greater competition for fewer crews. When you find the people who are willing to do the job, they want probably double the hourly rate. So what does that mean, like, for this home that is getting to the end stages here? That means that the consumer is paying more. That's Carter Evans in Los Angeles.

President Trump announced that he is suing the publisher and owner of the Wall Street Journal, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and others in a $10 billion libel lawsuit.

Washington

Trump sues WSJ publisher, Rupert Murdoch over Epstein letter story

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Damascus

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Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

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Rio de Janeiro

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London

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Moscow

EU imposes new sanctions on Russia's oil and banks

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Trump denies writing crude letter to Jeffrey Epstein

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Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Netanyahu apologizes for deadly strike on Catholic church in Gaza

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Tennessee

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Ahmedabad

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Trump says Epstein conspiracy theory is hoax started by Democrats

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Mexico City

Global Tariffs

Mexico plans to strengthen trade with Canada

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Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. ambassador attends Netanyahu trial to show support from Trump

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Encino

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Breakdown