State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) said it's time for project owners of buildings to take responsibility for who is on their property during construction projects.
FM Talk 106.5's Jeff Poor asked Elliott a hypothetical question: What would happen if the feds raided the construction site of the new Alabama State House? The general contractor on the job, Rabren Construction, was also the contractor on the recently raided Gulf Shores High School.
Elliott said while illegal immigrant labor has become the norm on construction sites nationwide, it's time for things to change and for owners of projects to pay attention.
"We have all overwhelmingly elected a president and we have given him a mandate to get rid of illegal immigrants in the country and he is doing exactly that," Elliott said. "And so, I think it's incumbent upon folks to realize that that's going to change how things work, and while you know, the first one or two instances where a job site got raided and people, you know, ended up getting hauled off might be excusable."
"I don't think that's necessarily excusable anymore going forward to say, 'Oh well my subcontractor agreement says they're not supposed to be illegals,' you know," he continued. "The owners of those projects are going to have to be more responsible for who's on those projects."
Elliott said he was surprised when he heard about the raid on the construction site of the new Loxley Elementary School, given that the construction site of the new Gulf Shores High School had been raided less than a month before.
As for Montgomery, Elliott said he hopes the news attention drawn by raids across the state has encouraged contractors, subcontractors and project owners to exercise common sense.
RELATED: State Sen. Elliott: 'Make it harder for illegals to work here' on state, federal levels
Elliott said there are challenges for the construction industry, and he thinks a broader immigration conversation needs to take place. In the meantime, he said, public and private officials need to ensure legal labor is being used on projects.
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