'They don't deserve that': Trump voter heartbroken as ICE grabs his workers
"It's going to be really hard to replace those guys," said business owner Vincent Scardina. "We're not able in Key West to just replace people as easily as, say, a big city, very limited people to pull from, and then you would have to train them, and that takes sometimes years.”
ICE snatched up six workers, all from Nicaragua, and Scardina is worried about them – and his business.
He said it takes not only a financial toll, but an emotional one.
"Well, you know, you get to know these guys, you become their friends, just not an employer, but a friend, and you see what happens to their family," Scardina said. "It's quite a shock."
Monroe County sheriff's deputies helped transport the men to a local detention facility for deportation, but their attorney said they all had valid work permits and pending asylum applications.
“They are legally here,” said attorney Regilucia Smith. “Valid work permit, not even close to expired … again, no criminal records — not here, not in Nicaragua.”
Scardina was asked what he would say to the president he helped elect.
"What happened here?" Scardina said he would ask Trump if given a chance. "This situation is just totally, just blatantly not at all what they said it was."
Scardina still agrees with most of the president's policies, but he believed the Trump administration would focus only on deporting criminals, but he said immigration officials appear to be trying to meet a target number.
"It's not just happening to me," he said. "I mean, it's happening across the board to several contractors. I know they're all being hit by this hard. I know of one landscaper that lost nine or 10 of his whole crew he had and he's just totally out of business all of a sudden, just like that.”
His colleague Virgil Scardina hopes the workers will be released from federal custody and not sent back to Nicaragua.
"Our business is struggling," Virgil Scardina said. "You know, make no mistake. This has the potential to cause us some significant problems. But I still get to go home and give my child a hug at night. These guys do not, and they don't deserve that."
Roofers detained by ICE while on their way to work
Roofers detained by ICE while on their way to work www.nbcmiami.com
A small business owner wants answers after his workers were detained by immigration authorities. NBC6’s Hatzel Vela reports