Vice President J.D. Vance attributed rising rents and housing prices to mass immigration during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
In a conversation with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Vance linked the surge in home prices to unprecedented illegal immigration under the Biden administration, suggesting that an overcrowded housing market is negatively impacting Americans, particularly new homebuyers.
“For me, I really care about young people’s futures, and I think that’s crucial because many are expressing concern that ‘Housing is just too expensive,'” Vance noted.
“Why is that? Because we’ve allowed 30 million illegal immigrants into the country, and they have occupied homes that should rightfully belong to American citizens. Plus, there hasn’t been enough workforce to construct new homes from the start.”
Vance mentioned that the Trump administration is seeking to facilitate home construction and enhance housing affordability by reinforcing immigration enforcement within the country.
“What we’re focusing on is simplifying the process for building houses, factories, and so on, so that people can secure decent jobs,” Vance stated. “We’re also committed to removing all illegal immigrants from the country, and we’re seeing some positive results already.”
Vance emphasized that resolving the nation’s “price crisis” requires boosting American wages.
“Objectively, Trump’s economy is… performing better than any in the last 50 or 60 years,” Vance asserted, adding that the president aims to cultivate an economy where people can afford their necessities. “The best way to achieve that is through good jobs and proper wages.”
In September, a group of Danish economists released a report indicating that high levels of immigration are substantially increasing rents and housing prices for local residents.
“Our findings imply a significant and positive correlation between immigration and private rents and housing prices at the municipal level,” the researchers explained.
More precisely, comparing to the 1995 local population, a 1 percent rise in immigrant influx over five years results in a roughly 6 percent and 11 percent average increase in private rents and house prices, respectively, at the municipal government level over the same timeframe.
This recent study supports decades of prior research that has similarly indicated that mass immigration influences rents and housing prices.
Last year, Stephen Camarota from the Center for Immigration Research presented comparable data to Congress, noting that “a 5 percent increase in recent immigrants in a metropolitan area corresponds with a 12 percent hike in rents for the average U.S.-born household in relation to their income.”
