Longtime Workers With Clean Records Caught Up in Butler County ICE Arrests, Construction Companies Say

Immigration arrests have jumped sharply in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where federal agents are working side by side with the local sheriff's office. Construction companies say many of the people being arrested have lived and worked in the United States for years — some for as long as two decades — and have no criminal record. Business leaders warn that the crackdown is slowing down home building and driving up costs for everyone.

The arrests are happening because of a special agreement between Butler County Sheriff Slupe and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The agreement is called a 287(g) cooperation deal, and it allows sheriff's deputies to help ICE agents arrest immigrants who are in the country without legal permission. Since November, deputies and ICE agents together have arrested 150 immigrants in Butler County, and many of those arrests happened at construction job sites.

Sheriff Slupe says the goal of the program is clear. 'If you're here illegally, you need to come to our country legally,' he said. He added that for those who do not choose to leave on their own, arrests are one way to send them back to their home countries. The sheriff has set aside 13 deputies to work with federal agents on this effort, and the federal government pays his office $780,000 a year for doing so.

Construction companies in the area are upset about what they are seeing. They say ICE agents watch job sites and check workers' papers without warning, and sometimes follow workers home or pull them over for minor traffic stops. Company leaders say these actions have created a climate of fear — not just for undocumented workers, but also for those who are here legally and worry about being caught up by mistake.

Jim Eichenlaub, the head of the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, spoke on behalf of the construction companies. He said the industry depends heavily on immigrant workers and that arresting them is hurting business. 'Our industry relies on immigration labor,' he said. 'Let them alone, let them work, let them be gainful contributors to our society.'

A look at data from the Deportation Data Project shows that 231 people have been arrested by ICE in Butler County over the past two years. Of those, only 30 had been convicted of a crime, and 23 had criminal charges still going through the courts. But 178 people — more than three-quarters of all those arrested — were listed only as immigration violations, meaning they had no criminal record.

The Department of Homeland Security defended the program, saying ICE is focused on serious criminal offenders. Officials stated that when agents come across someone who is in the country illegally, they are required to make an arrest because they cannot choose which laws to enforce. Even so, the data suggests that most people arrested in Butler County were not accused of any crime beyond being in the country without legal permission.

Sheriff Slupe admits that some arrests are hard for him personally. He said he feels for workers who have spent many years living and contributing to the community. 'Yeah, I'm a human being,' he said. 'I have feelings. I get it.' But he also said that until Congress passes better immigration laws, he will continue helping ICE enforce the ones that exist.

The builders association supports a proposed law called the Dignity Act, a bipartisan bill backed by lawmakers from both major political parties. It would protect workers who came to the United States before a large rise in immigration during the Biden administration, no matter how they entered. Supporters argue that solving the housing affordability problem requires fixing immigration policy at the same time, since construction depends so much on immigrant labor.