Homeownership and affordable rent just got a whole lot harder for America’s struggling families, thanks to a tidal wave of immigration under President Joe Biden’s watch.
A bombshell report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lays it bare: the unprecedented surge in immigration since 2021 has fueled skyrocketing housing costs, hitting the lowest-income Americans the hardest.
Breitbart reported that the numbers are staggering—between 2021 and 2024, the foreign-born population in the U.S. ballooned by over 6 million, reaching a historic high of more than 53 million.
This rapid growth, the fastest in American history, has created a massive spike in housing demand, directly pushing up prices and rents across the country.
In some markets, HUD found that immigration was almost the sole driver of recent housing demand increases, leaving little room for struggling American families to find a roof over their heads.
And let’s not sugarcoat it—economic growth during this period hasn’t kept pace, failing to lift wages for low-income renters enough to make rent even remotely affordable.
HUD defines “worst-case housing needs” as low-income households that spend over half their income on housing without any government aid, and the situation is grim.
Between 2021 and 2023, a staggering 8.46 million households faced these dire circumstances, a number virtually unchanged from the prior two years despite all the talk of progress.
For “very low-income” renters, fewer than 60 affordable units exist per 100 households, and for “extremely low-income” renters, it’s a pitifully few than 40 units—hardly a recipe for the American Dream.
HUD points a finger squarely at national policies, including record immigration levels, for driving up rental demand and keeping prices painfully out of reach.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner didn’t mince words on Fox Business Channel, stating, “we cannot forgo the thought that because of illegal immigration, because of people coming to our country, prices have risen, supply has been squeezed.”
Turner’s right—when supply gets choked, prices soar, and it’s not hard to see why the average American renter feels left behind by policies that seem to prioritize newcomers over citizens.
Turner also highlighted the scale of the challenge, saying, “When you have over 12 million people coming over our borders, unchecked and unvetted, this was straining our housing market from a supply standpoint, from an affordability standpoint.”
That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s hard to argue with the math—mass immigration on this scale, without a plan to expand housing, is a direct hit to the folks already scraping by.
While some may cry “compassion” for unchecked borders, HUD’s data begs the question: where’s the compassion for the 8.46 million American households drowning in housing costs?
It’s high time for policies that put struggling citizens first, balancing humanitarian goals with hard realities on the ground.
