HUD Secretary Scott Turner Links Illegal Immigration to Housing Market Strain in 2025 Report
HUD Secretary Scott Turner attributes unchecked illegal immigration and Biden-era immigration policies to increased pressure on the housing market, leading to higher prices and pricing out many American families. This perspective is tied to the agency's 2025 Worst Case Housing Needs Report, which highlights immigration-driven demand as a key factor in rising housing costs and measures housing stress among low-income renters.
The report notes that approximately 15 million illegal immigrants make up about 30% of all foreign-born residents, with foreign-born individuals accounting for a significant share of rental-growth. In states like California and New York, immigrants represent 100% of recent rental growth and more than half of the growth in owner-occupied housing; on a national scale, foreign-born residents account for more than 60% of rental-demand growth. The report estimates that without the migrant influx, roughly 784,000 fewer households would have formed since 2015.
In response, Turner announced that HUD has adopted an English-only policy and plans to conduct an August audit of public housing authorities to verify citizenship, citing concerns that current programs do not adequately serve all eligible families due to lack of enforcement.
However, some analysts cited by Fox News challenge these findings, arguing that immigration is not the sole factor affecting housing costs. They point to other contributors such as underbuilding and the impacts of the pandemic in shaping the housing market.
