About half of the 1 million Texas construction workers are undocumented, and many face wage theft and exploitation on the job. Employers sometimes refuse to pay workers, and many undocumented workers are scared to report them to authorities for fear of being deported. When workers are injured on the job, they face costly hospital bills and career ending injuries. Some employers mis-classify workers as subcontractors, meaning that employers are not responsible for taxes or overtime, the workers are. Experts say that billions of dollars are lost in taxes every year from these practices.
See "Construction Booming In Texas, But Many Workers Pay Dearly", Wade Goodwyn, NPR Morning Edition, April 9, 2013