OPINION:
The more than 10 million illegal immigrants who flooded into our nation under President Biden’s open-border policies significantly increased housing demand and drove up homeownership costs in America by 30%. The illegal invasion also accounted for about 20% of rent growth in the average metropolitan area from March 2021 to March 2024.
As young people find homeownership increasingly out of reach (the median age for first-time buyers has hit a record high of 40), much of this affordability crisis stems from the unprecedented influx of foreign nationals who, by taking advantage of Mr. Biden’s lax border policies, drove up home prices and rents.
A 1% increase in unauthorized workers relative to a local labor force corresponded with about a 2.2% rise in home prices and a 1.4% increase in rents, according to a preliminary study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Homebuilding did not keep pace with the rising demand, the study found, further compressing an already constrained housing supply.
The preliminary study is the latest of many that depict how unfettered illegal immigration has cost the American taxpayer and strained state and local benefit programs.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform has placed the cost of Mr. Biden’s border crisis at $150.7 billion and counting. The federal government spent more than $66 billion on illegal immigrants in 2023 alone, according to the federation, compared with the $3 billion it spent on our nation’s veterans — those brave Americans who served our country.
The Trump administration is doing its best to reverse course from Mr. Biden’s self-inflicted immigration policies. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced 13 consecutive months of zero border releases. The sustained decline in illegal border crossings and apprehensions is now at levels not seen in more than three decades.
“Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, we are delivering the most secure border in American history,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement last month. “The days of catch and release are over. We are enforcing the nation’s laws and quickly sending illegal aliens back to their home countries, ensuring the safety and sovereignty of our nation.”
Mr. Trump notched Supreme Court victories last month that allowed the administration to exclude asylum seekers from crossing the border while their claims are processed, and the court affirmed that temporary protected status for illegals already within the country is just that: temporary. The Trump administration is racing to build 700 miles of border barriers by the end of 2027 and has retooled the CBP Home app to emphasize rapid removals and “self-deportations” for those in the country illegally.
In terms of the housing market, Mr. Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development is working to crack down on illegals taking advantage of U.S. taxpayers.
Secretary Scott Turner is working with the Homeland Security Department to facilitate data sharing and ensure taxpayer-funded housing programs are not used to harbor or benefit illegal aliens. Mr. Turner revised HUD’s residency requirements and removed access for illegal immigrants to obtain government-insured mortgages.
Mr. Turner ordered all federal agencies to conduct audits to ensure his policies are being enforced, most notably by preventing illegal aliens from leaving citizenship boxes blank when applying for federally sponsored public housing units.
“Currently, HUD only serves 1 out of 4 eligible families due, in part, to the lack of enforcement of the prohibition against federally funded assistance to illegal aliens,” Mr. Turner told Fox News.
A HUD report issued last year found that in states such as California and New York, Mr. Biden’s border crisis accounted for 100% of all rental price growth and more than half of all growth in owner-occupied housing in recent years. Nationwide, the study found, the foreign-born population accounted for two-thirds of rental demand growth.
Although the current housing crisis is the result of a variety of factors — high interest rates, burdensome state and local building regulations and zoning policies, an influx of institutional investors buying up single-family homes — the surge of illegal immigration under the Biden administration must also be accounted for.
Those in the mainstream media and those economists who would like to downplay it as a factor leading to higher housing prices need to read the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ latest report, which proves the record number of illegals who came to the U.S. under Mr. Biden did indeed place the American dream of homeownership out of reach for many U.S. citizens.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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