It’s 3 a.m. in Austin and Rodríguez is still awake, the glow of his phone illuminating his face in the darkness. He refreshes the page again. A painting job appears—$150 for a day’s work. His finger hovers over the screen for just a second. Too long. By the time he taps, it’s already gone.
He’s been doing this for months now, ever since President Donald Trump canceled his work permit. Before that, he’d installed speakers at a Tesla facility north of town for 12 hours a day. And before that, he’d served drinks at a nightclub downtown, worked construction, and hauled furniture.
