HUD secretary breaks down how illegal immigration affects housing market
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner said Thursday that illegal immigration is squeezing housing supply and driving up rents and home prices for American families.
Appearing on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Turner said more than 12 million illegal immigrants have entered the country without adequate screening, adding immediate pressure to already constrained housing markets. He said that when millions of people arrive outside the legal system, demand spikes while supply fails to keep pace, driving up rents and home prices for working families.
“You have 12 million or more illegals coming across our border that have been unchecked and unvetted. When you come in, that hurts the housing supply,” Turner told host Greta Van Susteren. “It makes the cost of housing go up. In certain cities around our country, in particular L.A. and New York, 100% of the increase in rental demand is because of illegal immigration.”
Turner said the administration has responded by redirecting federal housing policy toward American households.
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“And so we’ve been taking measures at HUD to make sure that any HUD funds that pertain to housing are for the American people and American people only. The president has taken bold action, as you’ve seen, in banning institutional investors from buying up single-family homes,” Turner added.
Turner said federal housing officials are pairing that effort with measures aimed at lowering borrowing costs, including large-scale purchases of mortgage-backed securities designed to ease pressure on interest rates.
“These homes are meant for American families and not institutions. Also working with Director [William] Pulte over at FHFA [Federal Housing Finance Agency] to buy $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities to bring down the cost of borrowing. And so, as you’ve seen, there’s bold action taking place not only on the rental side but also to help people in America to be able to afford to buy a home,” Turner said.
Trump said Jan. 7 that his administration will block large investment firms from snapping up single-family houses, arguing that speculative buying has pushed homeownership further beyond reach, particularly for younger Americans. Economists previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the deeper problem lies in a persistent shortage of available homes, which continues to strain affordability nationwide.
U.S. homeowners paid a median price of $415,200 for an existing house in October 2025, up sharply from $271,100 five years earlier, according to Yahoo Finance. The central bank said Wednesday that it kept benchmark interest rates unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% after cutting rates three times earlier in 2025.
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