WASHINGTON — Last Tuesday's tragic bridge collapse in Maryland happened in the early morning hours, and some advocates say it represents where the work and contributions of U.S. immigrants often occur — in the dark and out of sight. Six immigrant workers died in the Baltimore bridge collapse.
The Baltimore bridge disaster is shedding light on the difficult and dangerous work many immigrants do. Eight workers were filling potholes overnight on the Francis Scott Key Bridge last week when it was struck by a barge and collapsed. They were from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, seeking a piece of the American dream. Two survived, and the other six died.
Advocates and White House officials say the disaster is a reminder of how much immigrants contribute to the U.S. economy.
“I hope that people take a step back as we reflect on this tragedy to reflect on the contributions that immigrants make across America, in so many different sectors,” Tom Perez, senior advisor and assistant to the president, told Spectrum News. ”Here were people who are working in the middle of the night to make sure that your day went well, putting themselves in harm's way.”
A group of immigrant workers and advocates gathered Friday in Baltimore to mourn the lives lost and stress the risks construction workers face performing dangerous, yet essential, jobs.
"The workers who made it possible for us to get to work, (who) work at night and in the cold, and throughout the pandemic so that our lives are made easier," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of the organization CASA.
The number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. has steadily grown since 2006 to 18.6% of the civilian labor force, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Some economists say immigrants played an essential role during the pandemic and beyond, taking difficult jobs that many others would not.
“In the recovery from the pandemic, the foreign-born workforce has helped relieve the pressure on the economy and on inflation, because the foreign-born workforce has added to the number of workers looking for jobs, and it's not like they're taking anyone's jobs,” said Chad Stone, chief economist of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The deaths of the six workers comes at a time when undocumented immigrants have become the subject of a fierce national debate.
In response to the record surge of migrants crossing the southern border, Republicans in Congress from Texas and around the country are seeking to restrict asylum. Former President Donald Trump said the new arrivals are responsible for committing crimes and vows he will embark on mass deportations if he becomes president.
Democrats pushing to expand legal pathways to citizenship say the number of job openings shows immigrant labor is needed. In Texas alone, there were an estimated 745,000 job openings in January, according to BLS data.
“This nation would be in such a challenging state if we didn't have wave after wave of immigrants coming to this country, adding to our remarkable vitality,” Perez said. “The biggest challenge we have — and I talked to employers all the time — is we have a workforce shortage.”
Citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau saying about one in four construction workers are immigrants, Perez said he was confident that immigrants helped to construct the Baltimore bridge.
When asked if he thinks immigrants will help clean up and rebuild the bridge, too, Perez said, “I am certain of that.”
“So many of the people who built and maintained the Francis Scott Key Bridge, as one such person commented, they were building the American dream, because not only did they build a bridge, but they built a bridge to opportunity for their own families,” Perez continued.
Immigrants died when the bridge collapsed and now some immigrants will likely work to rebuild it.