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Help Wanted as Immigration Faces Overhaul
"Every time I put up a crane, they are the guys who show up," McMahon said.
At Professional Grounds' Springfield office, Trimmer said the guest-worker program insulates him from having to deal with forged documents. Trimmer started using the H-2B program about five years ago to fill the void left by high school and college students who preferred air-conditioned summer internships over the work he could offer.
  Brett McMahon of Miller & Long, left, discusses immigration issues with engineer Ivan Perez. Perez has been in the United States for six years. (By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post) Video Fight Over Day Laborers Shifts to MarylandA civil defense corps that gained national attention in Arizona has formed in Maryland, prompting a political battle over the nearly 10,000 day laborers in the state. On one side is the Maryland Minuteman. On the other side is the immigration advocacy group Casa of Maryland.
Note: An earlier version of this video contained a photograph of a border patrol group not affiliated with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps. 
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The guest workers arrive in February or March and pay $40 a week for housing subsidized by the company. A van picks up and drops off those who can't drive; workers who have driver's licenses pay $3 per day for the use of a company car. Workers pay income, Social Security and Medicare taxes.
One of his workers, Abelardo Flores, said he likes returning to his wife and three children in Mexico after making money for 10 months. Two other workers, Luciano Arango and Marcos Ochoa, said they would like to permanently live in the United States someday. All said they had worked for the company last year. Trimmer cited investments he makes in the guest workers, from English classes to housing, as proof that he views them as more than cheap labor.
Once, Trimmer confessed, he did hire an illegal worker: a Nicaraguan man named Victor Parrales on a tourist visa.
Next week will mark Parrales's 22nd year with the company; Professional Grounds sponsored his green card, and he eventually became a citizen. Parrales now owns a house in Alexandria and boasts the title of vice president.
A piece of paper taped to Parrales's office door advertises that Professional Grounds needs more workers. In fact, the company says it will pay workers who bring forward qualified candidates a $1,000 referral fee.
Staff writers Dana Hedgpeth, Neil Irwin, Cecilia Kang and Michael S. Rosenwald contributed to this report.
