Trump's immigration crackdowns directly threaten to undermine a historic housing law designed to expand construction. New York Times housing reporter Ronda Kaysen reveals how the construction industry became dependent on immigrant labor—and why deporting workers now could make the housing shortage worse, not better. Construction employment shifted from unionized American workers earning $1.71 per dollar above average wage in the 1970s to non-union immigrant workers after homebuilders broke union power in the 1980s.