Addendum: ICE violence; true immigration reform now
The new administration has committed to higher tariffs and ever greater enforcement of legal employment laws. Because of its dependence on materials and immigrant labor, construction is particularly at risk. In this series, Safe Site Check In will summarize the risks and how construction project owners and contractors can prepare themselves for “The New ICE AGE”. We’ll also suggest how Safe Site Check In can help mitigate enforcement risks from project owners down to workers.
At the time we wrote this series, it was under the assumption that ICE would be a law-abiding arm of the federal government, and, therefore I advised you to follow the laws as well.
We were sorely mistaken. ICE has now committed two intentional homicides against USA citizens after violently mistreating illegal immigrants and USA citizens alike while denying them due process and lying about their character and motivations.
It must stop. I cannot remain silent to appease an amoral administration just to avoid becoming a target and maybe make a bit more money.
I’ll only publish these thoughts on our website’s blog and in private communications. I believe that social media outlets like LinkedIn should remain business positive, and all the other social media destinations only contribute to division.
Protesters Are Exercising Their First Amendment Rights
The Trump administration has now blatantly lied about the background and motivations of both victims, even before the smell of gunfire has dissipated. We’ve seen the videos, we know DHS is lying, and we know the FBI is sabotaging any real investigation.
The head of DHS has repeatedly lied about ICE actions, and denied protesters both their first amendment rights, and now their second amendment rights as well. Not to mention the thousands of immigrants and citizens violently taken into custody with no due process.
As for the ICE agents who saw fit to shoot a mother in the head and a nurse in the back, their mortal sins must answer to a higher power, even if local law enforcement is prevented from its investigations.
Why Legal Protection of Protesters and Immigrants Matters
First amendment rights are essential to a democracy. If you cannot openly dispute our government’s policies, the USA is no better than the Russians, the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Iranians and other authoritarian regimes.
Immigrant rights are essential to a humane society, not to mention our economy for labor intensive industries like construction. The USA became a dominant economy from the labor of untold millions of immigrants including almost all of our families.
Following our laws should not be a left or right policy issue. It’s what makes us a democracy.
Who’s On Our Jobsites? Some of our Best Workers are “Illegal”
The Trump administration has branded all non-legal workers as violent criminals. Yet we all know the truth: Some of our best workers may not be here legally, yet very few commit criminal acts beyond immigration violations, and their loyalty and hard work have been a blessing.
Immigrants have the gumption to leave their homeland and attempt to make a better life in the USA. How many of us could do the same? They’ve given far more to this country than they’ve cost, not to mention the profitability of so many construction firms.
It’s also no accident ICE’s targets are mostly non-white. The administration’s racism is barely disguised. The damage to our country’s reputation has been catastrophic, even if it hasn’t shown up in economic statistics yet.
The Reputational Risk of Staying Silent
Once the Nazi era ended, it took decades for its international firms to undo the reputational damage their complicity caused. Even if you support mass deportations, I’d like to believe you hope that the current era of federalized homicidal violence must end soon.
But before history judges us, thoughtful business owners should consider how they want their personal legacy to be remembered.
Even though we’re a small company, as CEO of Safe Site Check in, I won’t stay silent. In the appropriate venues, neither will any firm doing business with us.
I refuse to be known as a “good German” who pretends he didn’t know what was going on. I know, I’m appalled, and intend to act as best I can to stop the administration while continuing to care for my customers, staff and investors.
Asking our government to enforce its laws legally shouldn’t require special pleading. But today it does.
I call on all our customers and business partners to contact their federal representatives to put an immediate end to ICE violence and their Gestapo tactics against immigrant communities and our citizens protesting.
Conclusion: Insist on Immigration Reform Now
The ABC and US Chamber of Commerce have called on the Trump administration to implement broad guest worker programs. While I agree, those institutions urgently need to go further. They need to call for an end to the violence against the administration’s political enemies and call for a true immigration reform package now.
Low taxes should not be the construction industry’s only political concern. A disappearing workforce will make more and more projects unaffordable, not to mention the ever changing cost of materials due to ever changing tariffs.
I personally believe there should be a path to citizenship for many of our illegal workers and their families. Blanket deportation is hugely expensive, disruptive, inflationary and plainly racist in its intent. The Bush administration attempted to give illegal workers a path to citizenship. The Republicans refused to do so while in power 20 years ago. They should act now to implement immigration reform while they still are in the majority.
Why? Most of my career has been in technology, and through the accidents of history, tech is now infused with millions of legal immigrants. And you may have noticed, our tech industry is now the envy of the world.
The Construction industry can become similarly successful, but only if we collectively speak out now and stop this madness before it goes any further.
David Brian Ward is a CEO and Founder of Safe Site Check In LLC, a digital jobsite management platform launched in 2020 for the Construction industry. With over 40 years of experience in the technology industry, having launched and grown several successful companies. Mr. Ward is a now a SaaS entrepreneur and innovation leader in the Construction industry.
David Brian Ward is a CEO and Founder of Safe Site Check In LLC, a digital jobsite management platform launched in 2020 for the Construction industry. With over 40 years of experience in the technology industry, having launched and grown several successful companies. Mr. Ward is a now a SaaS entrepreneur and innovation leader in the Construction industry.
