More Than 100 Arrested for Immigration-Related Violations at Tallahassee Construction Site

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested more than 100 people illegally in the U.S. during a joint agency, targeted enforcement operation at two construction sites in Tallahassee, Fla., May 29. 

The site where the bulk of the arrests took place was the 359,900-sq-ft Perla Student Housing project being developed by Zimmerman near Florida State University and being built by general contractor Hedrick Brothers of Palm Beach. 

Hedrick said that while it is complying with the investigation, its site was temporarily shut down while the investigating enforcement agencies were present checking identification and fingerprints of the workers there. 

“Federal immigration authorities took control of a site in which our company is the general contractor. Their actions were focused on the employees of independent subcontractors on the site,” Hedrick said in a statement. “As we publicly stated, we had no advance notice of or awareness of this matter. We also noted that we are in full compliance with all E-Verify employment mandates. While we are sympathetic to the situation, we expect all independent subcontractors to maintain the same legal standards as our company, as required by our contractual agreements with their companies.”

The multiagency enforcement raid was directed by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Tallahassee, with significant assistance from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations. The agencies’ statement said there were illegal workers from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Honduras among others arrested at the two sites. While a full breakdown of those arrested was not provided by the agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said more than half were arrested for crossing the southern border multiple times or for multiple previous arrests while being in the U.S. illegally.

The agencies did say one person was taken into state custody for resisting arrest and is being charged with four counts of assault on law enforcement officers, and another person was arrested for attempting to point a weapon at officers.

“These types of enforcement actions aim to eliminate illegal employment, holding employers accountable and protecting employment opportunities for America’s lawful workforce,” ICE HSI Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno said in a statement. “HSI Tallahassee, working alongside our state, local and federal partners, will continue protecting public safety by enforcing the immigration laws of our nation.”

While the first Trump administration and the Obama and Bush administrations before it performed targeted enforcement raids on construction sites and other workplaces, ICE significantly reduced worksite enforcement actions, including raids on construction sites, during the Biden administration. A key policy shift was an October 27, 2021 memorandum from then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which halted large-scale worksite raids and redirected the agency’s focus to employers who exploit undocumented workers rather than targeting the workers in such raids. On Jan. 21, the second Trump administration almost immediately rescinded several Biden-era Homeland Security enforcement directives.

The warranted investigation took up most of the workday on May 29 as state, federal and local law enforcement officers arrived on the Perla worksite and workers were told to form two lines for those with identification and those who would be checked by fingerprint scans. Vans and buses were used to transport the arrestees and people who were interviewed and let go spoke to local media that arrived that day. Most of the more than 100 arrests took place at the Perla site while a smaller, nearby construction site accounted for a few of the arrests earlier in the morning. While Hedrick Brothers said the site is still operational and work continued on June 2, how it impacts the company’s workforce is unknown.

“HSI has not shut down the job site. We have continued to operate through the circumstances. The full impact of this situation on the job site is still being evaluated.” a Hedrick Brothers spokesperson said in response to questions.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), writing on the X social media platform, praised state law enforcement for “making a huge impact on immigration enforcement efforts.” He also said “the Feds are pursuing the subcontractor responsible for hiring the illegal alien workers.”

A spokesperson for Gov. DeSantis referred all questions about who the subcontractor in question is to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A spokesperson for the agency did not immediately respond to questions beyond its posted statement. A spokesperson for Hedrick Brothers said it has no more information about Gov. DeSantis’ post and discussions with all of its subcontractors regarding compliance are ongoing. 

As to how losing more than 100 workers from a site will impact Perla and possibly other projects, a public relations representative of Hedrick Brothers said, in response, “We are confident that as a company with decades of success that we will have the capability to ensure the successful completion of the projects we are both currently working on, and will be working on in the future.”

ENR Associate Technology, Equipment and Products Editor Jeff Yoders has been writing about design and construction innovations for 20 years. He is a five-time Jesse H. Neal award winner and multiple ASBPE winner for his tech coverage. Jeff previously wrote about construction technology for Structural Engineer, CE News and Building Design + Construction. He also wrote about materials prices, construction procurement and estimation for MetalMiner.com. He lives in Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, where the pace of innovation never leaves him without a story to chase.