VEGAS EXODUS

How a slump in housing construction has cost immigrant workers their jobs and sent them home

Leila Navidi

The El Paso - Limousine Express pulls away from a downtown bus station. The manager at this station estimates that 100 people a week are buying one-way tickets to Mexico. They’re going home because they can’t find work building homes in the Las Vegas Valley.

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Sunday, April 6, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Housing Slump

Viewing video requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player

The housing slump in Las Vegas, now in its second year, has affected thousands of Hispanic construction workers who have left the city as their jobs disappeared. Most of them are undocumented illegal immigrants, so the government has little information on them. However, their departure, and the slowdown in work for those who remained, is causing a corresponding slump in businesses that cater to them, including grocery stores and apartments.

Construction worker exodus

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Chris Morris

Alejandro Salazar slumps into a cushioned seat halfway into the bus, looks out from under a baseball cap and thinks about a future more than a thousand miles away. He came to the Las Vegas Valley from Mexico five years ago to build houses, launching a run of $700-a-week paychecks that made it worth crossing the desert into the United States. But those weekly checks were whittled down to $200 over the past year; he sold his van and is returning to Aguascalientes. “At least I have family there,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.

He has $60 in his jeans pocket. A friend stuffed the money into Salazar’s hand just before he climbed onto the bus at the Charleston Boulevard and Eastern Avenue station.

Salazar is among unknown thousands of Hispanic construction workers who have left Las Vegas as their jobs evaporated in the homebuilding slump, now in its second year. Thousands more are still here but earning much less than they did even a year ago.

The combined effect is hitting companies that cater to Hispanics especially hard. Supermarkets, apartments and other businesses report unprecedented declines in revenue. Those businesses, in turn, are laying off workers or cutting back their hours.

Just how many construction workers are affected is impossible to know. Most of the people leaving are illegal immigrants who live under the radar of the official agencies that count heads and chart migration. The same is true of those who remain.

Nonetheless, interviews with dozens of people in residential construction and a review of state statistics on jobs in that sector suggest that at least 80,000 Hispanic immigrants are struggling economically or have left the state.

The math:

• Nearly 100 percent of the workers who build homes in the Las Vegas Valley are Hispanic, and most of their families include illegal immigrants. An estimated 60 percent to 80 percent of those workers are undocumented, industry insiders say.

• At least 20,000 jobs in residential construction have vanished during the slump. (That figure is from a Sun analysis of state Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Department data, based on numbers provided by construction companies. The state can only assume those companies are counting jobs once held by illegal immigrants.)

• The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the average size of Hispanic families in Nevada is four.

Many of these workers and their families have fled Nevada, for Mexico or for other states. Others are hanging on here, spending less to ride out the bad times.

Many point to tightened immigration laws as an additional factor in deciding how long they will stay.

Rakesh Kochhar, associate director of research at the Pew Hispanic Center, a Washington-based think tank, says the factors at work in the Las Vegas Valley — a slumping economy coupled with a clamor for tightened immigration policies — is being seen nationwide. At the same time, the valley depends on illegal immigrants for construction more than many other areas, Kochhar says. Their departure creates an “unusual social experiment,” he says. “When in our history can we think of saying goodbye to scores of thousands of people like this?”

•••

Thirty-year-old Pascual Martinez, from Hidalgo, Mexico, has been working as a roofer since he was 18. In a trailer behind the Amistad Cristiana church on Stewart Avenue, he rubs tar off his hands while describing his family’s spiral downward during the past 16 months.

He once worked 54 hours a week. He now gets by on 15. His weekly checks have gone from $800 to $200. Martinez has a wife and three children. The youngest is 18 months old.

Sitting nearby, pastor Joel Menchaca explains that he has let the family move into a trailer the church owns for $300 a month.

It is Thursday night, and the family has eaten rice and beans every day this week. Martinez’s oldest son, 6-year-old Eric, asked for milk with his cereal this morning. There was none.

“We’re living like we did in Mexico, just surviving,” Martinez says.

He borrowed $700 from his employer a year ago; he has yet to pay the money back.

Eric asks him for remote-controlled toys and he has to tell the boy that things are hard right now. Eric sees his dad at home in the afternoon and asks why he’s not at work.

Martinez has four brothers who work in construction, all in the same situation. He says at least 10 of his friends have left Las Vegas, four of them bound for Mexico.

“I would do the same, but I think of my children and their education,” Martinez said. He thinks of Eric, who has told him, “I want to learn English and then teach it to you.”

•••

At the Broncos money order store on Desert Inn Road near Eastern Avenue, the floor on a Friday afternoon scuffs underfoot in the dust left behind by the boots of construction workers. Owner Reveriano Orozco says business at his three stores has suffered for 16 months, going from 19,500 transactions in October 2006 to 12,400 in February. His payroll has dropped from 40 employees to 25. He has sold three other stores and is about to do the same with the last three.

Ruben Martinez cashes a paycheck and sends $300 to his family in Hidalgo. That’s about half the 29-year-old stucco worker’s monthly income — so he sends money home only every other month.

At Mariana’s Supermarket on Eastern Avenue near Bonanza Road, store manager Fernando Nuno says business is down 15 percent in the past eight months, the sharpest drop in sales since the chain of four stores opened in 1986.

Nuno says the company has cut back hours worked by its 500 employees by about 15 percent. Two other chains of four supermarkets report declines in sales of at least 10 percent. One has cut back hours for 220 employees.

At Cedar Arms apartments, off Eastern Avenue a few blocks south of Mariana’s Supermarket, 12 of 80 units are vacant, the most manager Alex Miranda has seen in four years on the job. Some families went to Mexico. Others left for neighboring states. Rent has dropped $50 for each apartment, to $525 for a one-bedroom.

Not surprisingly, ZIP codes with large Hispanic populations, including 89030, 89115 and 89104, are experiencing high vacancy rates. The rates there have ranged from 10 percent to 14 percent during the past six months, compared with 8 percent to 9 percent for the entire valley, according to CB Richard Ellis, a real estate services company.

At Club Barajas on West Charleston Boulevard near Decatur Boulevard, a man at the bar is willing to talk but won’t give his name because he has laid off more than 50 workers, including family and friends.

His eyes have an empty look. He says he stays up nights, turning over the names of his new enemies, the ones he cut off from their livelihoods.

“You fire your cousin or you fire your friend,” he says. He pulls on his third Corona. “You play Russian roulette. My wife says, ‘Do what you have to do.’ ”

He names three companies he has worked with during five years of supervising homebuilding crews. Two laid off 400 workers each. The third cut 565, he says.

Jonathan Iniguez, the bar’s manager, says he used to cash the paychecks of workers, dozens of whom would surround the pool table and dance to mariachis. That all stopped about six months ago.

Liquor sales are a third of what they were, and poker machines bring in one-fourth as much. The seven mariachi musicians, each of whom pulled in up to $300 for four hours of brassy partying, don’t come around anymore. Iniguez has laid off two of six bartenders.

That’s what happens in a slumping economy, says Keith Schwer, director of the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research. “If you take out spending in the economy, you’re going to take out more than initial spending ... (and) in general, one job lost takes another with it.”

•••

Nearly 10,000 construction workers filed unemployment claims statewide in February. Illegal immigrants don’t qualify for those benefits, or for welfare or food stamps. Many have turned to churches for help.

Menchaca, president of a group of 80 Christian Hispanic churches, says some pastors are seeking help from church-based projects that sell food at reduced cost. Others are letting their parishioners live on church-owned property.

At Ebenezer Christian Church, in a storefront at an East Las Vegas mall, pastor Ciro Solano preaches on a Friday night that “the Word is for the poor as well as the rich.” Fifteen or more of Solano’s 50 parishioners have been affected by the downturn, he says.

Parishioner Pedro Godinez says he has been reduced to working 30 hours a week, the least in his 13 years as a house framer. But he’s better off than most of his friends: Three have lost homes and two moved to California.

Godinez and many other workers interviewed for this story say the shrinking residential construction industry is only partly to blame for their plight. They mention state and federal laws making it harder for employers to hire illegal immigrants.

The 2007 Nevada Legislature passed AB 383, which gave the Taxation Department the authority to fine employers the federal government determines have knowingly hired workers with false Social Security numbers.

In March, six months after the law took effect, the attorney general decided that existing federal law trumped and invalidated the state law. But that kind of information filters slowly down to street level, especially in the Hispanic immigrant community.

Benjamin Powell, research fellow at the Independent Institute, a Washington-based think tank, says the combination of worker exodus and tightened immigration laws could create problems for Southern Nevada’s economy down the road.

“When things turn around and there’s a boom, you’ll be constrained on labor, so Las Vegas won’t be able to expand as it has,” he says.

Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst at the Las Vegas company Applied Analysis, says the exodus “creates not only a problem for today, with a decrease in spending, but in the future, when it will be more difficult to ramp up the economy.”

One problem is the difficulty illegal immigrants who have gone back to Mexico might have in entering the country again. With a wall going up along the U.S.-Mexico border and calls for the federal government to crack down on illegal immigration, it seems likely that getting back into the United States will be harder.

•••

Salazar sits on the bus, that $60 tucked in his pocket, headed to Aguascalientes.

Erika Chavira, manager at the bus station, says about half her passengers have been buying one-way tickets to Mexico in recent months.

Bus driver Antonio Padilla says he hasn’t seen anything like it in 24 years behind the wheel.

Many travelers are heading home because there is no work. Some carry tools onboard. Chavira estimates that 100 people return to Mexico each week on her buses, or more than 5,000 a year.

Outside are the three friends who came to say goodbye. They say they might soon follow.

“It’s a miracle we’re still here,” says Jose Sanchez. “We’re on a tightrope.”

Jose Castaneda says the three are seeing how long they can hold out.

Onboard, someone asks Salazar about his future.

“Oh, I’ll be back — in about three years.”

Sun reporter Alex Richards contributed to this story.

Discussion: 22 comments so far…

By jfnance32

4/6/08 at 2:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

Illegals going home.....

School enrollment is lower this and across all states that have significant illegal populations....
By JimmyJoJo

4/6/08 at 5:49 a.m.

Suggest removal

Pretty sad, yet we have a MORON for a President who sits there and honestly believes everything is just Hunky Dory! Go Figure!

JJ
www.Ultimate-Anonymity.com
By JoeF

4/6/08 at 8:33 a.m.

Suggest removal

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Vegas might as well get ready for the "long haul" when it comes to the economic downturn.
By mikeg

4/6/08 at 8:55 a.m.

Suggest removal

Ah tacka tacka ticky tock, say I, harrumph.
By mgkrebsii

4/6/08 at 12:51 p.m.

Suggest removal

This poor man came here only to do for $3000 per month work that Americans won't do. NOT! He probably got the job after one of his illegal buddies pushed an American off a roof-- possibly permanently injuring him.

Good riddance!
By Oatka

4/6/08 at 1:43 p.m.

Suggest removal

The headline writer left out "illegal" in the title. Surely just an oversight (ahem).

"Nearly 10,000 construction workers filed unemployment claims statewide in February. Illegal immigrants don’t qualify for those benefits, or for welfare or food stamps."
But their Anchor Babies do.

"Godinez and many other workers interviewed for this story say the shrinking residential construction industry is only partly to blame for their plight. They mention state and federal laws making it harder for employers to hire illegal immigrants."
The victim mentality and sense of entitlement here is unbelievable. How dare we attempt to enforce our laws?

Martinez has been here 12 years and Eric wants to learn English and teach it to dad? Why doesn't dad know English by now and why isn't Eric already bilingual?
I suspect it is because dad worked only with other Hispanics, mostly illegal, and there was no reason to learn English - or to assimilate.

Best line in the whole article: "Erika Chavira, manager at the bus station, says about half her passengers have been buying one-way tickets to Mexico in recent months."

But didn't previous article here state that "there were too many to deport", ignoring the obvious in that many would self-deport when they could no longer use this country as an ATM machine?
By Narcissa

4/6/08 at 3:15 p.m.

Suggest removal

While the tone of the article is clearly to convey the sentiment that the exodus of illegal aliens from our city is a negative, I could not be more delighted by the news that these people are leaving in droves.

I pray the exodus continues!

Maybe now our schools will perform better, now that we don't have to cater to so many illegals and their anchor babies.

Maybe now we'll be able to drive down the street and not be made to feel that we are living in some third world toilet, complete with beat up cars blaring weird clown music, bumper stickers to remind us that these people have zero interest in assimilating and zero loyalty to this country, billboards in Spanish, and Mexican flags being flown from houses with cars resting on concrete blocks.

Think I'm joking?

Just take a drive on Stewart and Lamb sometime. It is an absolute TOILET.

The sense of entitlement from these people is astounding-as usual, it's all about them. Here they are, sending virtually ALL of their money back "home", instead of putting it back into the ecomony the way normal, grateful immigrants do, yet these Mexicans have absolutely no problem with the notion of having the REST OF US pay for their childrens' education.

And, of course, let's not forget that most of these people don't pay taxes. Even if they did, the amnount they use in social services cannot begin to cover what we Americans are shelling out for their "benefits" for them and their lil' anchor babies.

Let the exodus continue! YAY!!
By Rodman88

4/6/08 at 4:12 p.m.

Suggest removal

Finally some good news on illegals. Now if the other 400,000 taco benders will go and take their crouch babies with them Las Vegas will not have to vote for a sales tax increase for more cops, a bond issue for more schools, there will be freed up room in the prisons, more drivers will have car insurance and maybe, just maybe I can quit pushing one when I make a phone call. Adios pancho, don't let the border hit you in the ass as you go back where you belong.
By RangeRover

4/6/08 at 5:50 p.m.

Suggest removal

Come November, PLEASE remember those politicians who have been valiantly trying to stem the flow of illegals, and those, who, let's just say, have been undermining those efforts.

Ellen Koivisto has tried to pass legislation that would revoke the business licences of those who hire illegals. What was passed was, unfortunately, a very watered down law.

In Arizona, they passed a similar, but much stronger law, with FANTASTIC results; the illegals are fleeing like rats jumping ship and the law has survived court challenges brought on by the usual suspects-i.e. the ACLU and LaRaza.

Unfortunately, here in Nevada, your Attorney General, Catherine Cortez Masto, has determined that the current aforementioned anti-illegal immigration law is "unconstitutional", because immigration is a "federal" issue.

So, even though WE and our children are the ones who suffer from the devastating effects of illegals who brazenly trample our language, culture and borders on a daily basis, Ms. Cortez-Masto's decision essentially means that this impact is still not enough; illegal immigrants are NOT to be restrained locally, by we, the people.

And, please remember that her decision also allows anchor babies living in households with illegals to collect all sorts of welfare and other government "entitlements"-all on your dime.

In short, you, the people of Nevada have been told, once again, that when it comes to illegal immigration, your only solution is to rely on the federal government and beyond that, well, you can just SHUT UP.

It is a sad, sad day in Nevada when our state's number one law enforcement officer cannot be relied upon to protect law-abiding American citizens, and instead, sides with the illegal alien lobby, thus making it even more difficult to get rid of these people!

I hope in November that you will remember those politicians whose stances have helped and hindered our efforts to save our state from the invasion of illegals.

Call your state reps-let them know that you want Arizona-style legislation that will revoke business licenses from those who hire illegals, one that will withstand the attacks from state politicians with a pro-illegal agenda.

And, of course, let them know (respectfully!) that you vote.
By AngryPostman

4/7/08 at 12:18 p.m.

Suggest removal

So much racism. The only intelligent argument so far is that the 'illegals' send money home and don't spend it here.

Regardless, the kids should get access to schools and healthcare whoever's 'dime' is covering it. I prefer healthy and educated street gangs to the alternative. And the graffiti is far more artistic that way.
By Brittanicus

4/7/08 at 1:48 p.m.

Suggest removal

The pro-illegal immigrant special interests groups use the same MANTRA, as though by confusing the words is going to change the demands of the majority of logical thinking citizens and legal residents. Most national newspapers and the media, always categorizes ALL people who enter America as immigrants! There is a stark difference between those people who are inspected for contagious diseases, criminal backgrounds and have been issued a entry visa. People who ignore THE PEOPLE'S laws are illegal immigrants or illegal aliens? In most newspapers the editors have been brain-washed or lobotimised, because they refuse to illustrate the massive difference between legal and illegal. Their IS no exception to this rule. It is a travesty of our immigration enforcement laws!

Neither political parties can be trusted when it comes to the illegal immigration occupation of our country. More states are trying to enact strict laws for enforcement against predator employers. However, THE SAVE ACT has the teeth and packs the punch, to halt this pestilence overwhelming our wilting economy. Very few Senators and Representatives have THE PEOPLE' S best interest in mind. The Democratic hierarchy have specifically been pandering to special interest groups, and very few have offered to co-author THE FEDERAL SAVE ACT.

Keep calling your Democrat Representative today, toll free numbers include 1-877-851-6437 and 1-866-220-0044, or call toll 1-202-224-3121 AND REGISTER YOUR OUTRAGE at ongoing efforts to keep our country from enforcing its immigration laws!

Learn the suppressed news about the border fence at:
AmericanPatrol
By PaulC1958

4/8/08 at 9:11 a.m.

Suggest removal

We must make businesses pay for the full cost of the illegal labor they either directly use or support. The way to do that is to tax all businesses sufficiently to cover all the cost associated with illegal aliens, e.g., school costs, social welfare costs, jail costs, health care costs, and any other costs that can be shown to result from the illegal aliens in the metro area.

Some will say that not all businesses hire illegal aliens. I say I don't either, but I'm taxed anyway. Help get rid of them instead of having your Better Business Bureau join in efforts to block any law design to deal with this invasion. The tax should be automatically adjusted annually to the total cost illegal aliens impose on government.
By blackops

4/8/08 at 12:14 p.m.

Suggest removal

I for one will shed no tears in seeing the ILLEGAL aliens from Mexico leave this country and take your ILL GOTTEN GAINS with you. Oh yeah while you're at it, clean up that mess of a country of yours, so that you will not want to leave!
By LarryAZ50

4/8/08 at 2:49 p.m.

Suggest removal

Yes, this is a wonderful thing! The down market is forcing the illegals to move. When the economy improves, hopefully, most of them will be gone, and laws and ENFORCEMENT will be in place. Then the construction industry can do what they used to do, hire Americans. I remember when going into construction was a great career. Hard work but well paying, enough to raise a family! And there was pride in quality construction. Remember that?

I'm in Phoenix and, yes, we are seeing them leave. Mostly the residents, but since we are the main passage from Mexico to other states, there are hundreds of drop houses around the Valley. There seems to be a bust of a drop house each day or so. And often the police are called by an illegal held against their will.

I was encouraged this morning at the Post Office. I see this regularly. Most of the applications for passports are for children, not the parents. The parents don't speak english and say they are going to Mexico.
By pennbird

4/11/08 at 8:05 a.m.

Suggest removal

AngryPostman - "So much racism."

Oh, put the race card away, it's the weakest argument going and only shows your ignorance. Illegals are a financial drain on our community and our country. And, they are criminals. Please see Webster's for illegal! Let them go back to Mexico and improve their country instead of illegally invading ours. Of course a large number of them think this is their country for the taking. THAT really offends me.

I really hope someone breaks into your house, takes all your food, kicks you out of your bed, and then demands that you learn their language and educate their kids. Then maybe you will understand that this issue has NOTHING to do with racism. And yes, I understand that the occasional bigot will say something silly, but that happens on your side of the argument, too.
By Aggie

4/12/08 at 4:47 p.m.

Suggest removal

My Father Came To America In 1913 Legally.He Studied ENGLISH And Took a Test and Became an >AMERICAN Citizen<. (not a Mexican American citizen!) He was What Mexicans call European Americans,an ANGLO.He Learned and Used the English Language Every day. Spoke His European Native Tongue With his American Born Wife Only In the Home and Not At The Local Wal-Mart! The Difference with Mexicans and Central Americans,South Americans and Even some Cubans Is That They Won't Learn,Nor Use English....... This I find Disgusting And Arrogant....After all.....They are Partaking Of An American dream and Contaminating It with Their SPANISH In An English Speaking Country! GOOD RIDDANCE And Good Bye! Asta La vista! Work In Your Own Third-World Slum and Crooked Country!
By Figueroa

5/18/08 at 2:46 p.m.

Suggest removal

Narcissa's belief that the performance in our ed system has been affected by anchor children is not well founded. As much as it would benefit the rest of the minorities it's ludicris to think that it would make much difference(They're only 20% of the entire School System Population). Children not performing with the curriculum does not derive from the lack of resources!If you study the percentiles of other states school budgets, you will find we give our them a competent supply of funds.Performance CAN be improved,if PARENTS would invest resources into THEIR OWN children.As a business owner it makes no diference to me weather those anchor babies get milks, diapers,etc. each month.It never will, I pay the same percentage of taxes.On the other hand, all the illegal immigrants paying incometax on their wages up-front, and not claiming them gives me a little peace-of-mind knowing there's going to be some unclaimed funds I can cash in when I retire(it sounds sinical but corporations do it ALL THE TIME. All the big boys are doing it).
People in society end up where they belong(i'm sure we all concur).If indeed we had a surplus of labor in our valley, the pendulum of life will balance the supply and demand of labor and work-availability. That is exactly what we are experiencing around the country. My guess is that if you live near Lamb and Stewart now, you will live in alike areas even after the exodus is done and over with. This is inevitalble due to the thousands of new residents in our Valley every month seeking low rentals. Narcissa,you may have missed you Economics class in High School but taxes are collected BEFORE you get your paycheck.These illegal immigrants never get to touch the taxes and,for obious reasons never collect them in a Tax Return.What Anti-immigrant groups are feeding you about the "COST" is plainly BS.In my opinio it is poloticians mascarading to nickel-and-dime more $.I pay the same regardless.
The EXODUS is imminent.What should worry the rest of the Mod/Low Income Fams is the rest of the population that is JOBLESS and claiming BENEFITS.
Regarding Pennbird's remarks, I take personal offense in that.My parents entered the US LEGALLY and have made an honest living starting as a produce guy and cleaning lady, and now they are business and property owners and have financial fortitude.That is something I will always take pride in.The US has always been and WILL ALWAYS BE a land of opportunity and making such and obsurd and irrelevant example reflects your sense of entitlement and victim mentality.Never have I thought of immigrants as stealing my food.I've learned to appreciate cultures from around the world and such knowledge has been very lucrative.Don't think that being American entitles you to anything other than Life, Liberty and PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. It is up to you to reach success. But I agree, to be a parttaker of the wealth you abide by our laws and learn our culture.
By saraheric

11/10/08 at 11:50 p.m.

Suggest removal

Many of those with family members working in the U.S. are accustomed to receiving remittances from their family members abroad. But with costs rising across the board in the U.S., immigrants to America have less money to send home.
-------------------------
Sarah

<a href="http://www.addictionlink.org/drug-rehab-center/alberta">alberta drug rehab</a>
By gomez

11/11/08 at 12:57 a.m.

Suggest removal

good and excellent article ...people could understand about illegal by reading the passage and comments...recently in news papers they mentioning about illegal to people to give some awareness...
*********************
Gomez

<a href="http://www.addictionlink.org/drug-rehab-center/alberta " rel="nofollow">alberta drug rehab</a>
By johnevegas

11/11/08 at 5:16 a.m.

Suggest removal

"taco benders"

WOW! This story has the most hate filled comments I've seen here. I feel ashamed of America when I read them. These are not the proud perspectives that reflect a compassionate and caring country. Not at all.
By lidia

3/10/09 at 11:51 a.m.

Suggest removal

It is amazing how there's so much ignorance in this so open minded country. Does any body actually know why ford is not selling as many cars, trucks, suv? Does anybody know why homes are not being sold? Does anybody know why the cost of food is going up? I'll tell you, because of hispanic's! They buy homes and cars and also with the new laws it is making it harder to work here, so why stay and pick up your lovely produce! we do spend our money in this country why do you think there's so many billboards in spanish, or concerts or have hispanic fighters fight on mexican celebration dates. Because we are not thinking of our 401k or where we are going to retired, because we have relative that will take care of us. We don't put our parents in homes, we welcome them into our homes.

« Previous Ten Next Ten »

Live chat: Tuesday, noon PST; Chat with Krista Creelman; Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question