Brace yourself, America: the housing market is buckling under pressures that some say were entirely preventable.
The latest HUD "Worst Case Housing Needs Report" for 2025 paints a grim picture of affordability for low-income families, with HUD Secretary Scott Turner pointing to unchecked immigration and open-border policies as a major culprit in driving up costs and squeezing out American households.
Released every two years since 1991, HUD’s flagship report assesses the state of affordable housing for those struggling most, tracking trends in housing stress and identifying gaps in low-cost rental supply.
This year’s findings are particularly stark, issuing a pointed warning about how increased immigration, especially of the unauthorized variety, has strained the market.
According to the report, a staggering 15 million unauthorized immigrants make up 30% of the foreign-born population in the U.S., significantly contributing to housing demand.
In states like California and New York, immigrants drove 100% of rental growth and over 50% of owner-occupied housing increases in recent years, a trend that has policymakers scratching their heads.
Nationally, the foreign-born population accounted for over 60% of rental demand growth, with two-thirds of that surge tied directly to noncitizen households.
HUD’s analysis suggests that without this migrant influx, housing inventory pressures would have been far less severe, with nearly 784,000 fewer households forming over the studied period.
Compare that to earlier reports from 2019 and 2023, where noncitizen rental demand growth was just 13%, and it’s clear something has shifted—fast.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner isn’t mincing words, placing much of the blame on past policies that failed to enforce immigration controls.
“The unchecked illegal immigration and open borders policies allowed by the Biden administration continue to put significant strain on housing, pricing out American families,” Turner declared, signaling a sharp pivot under the current leadership.
While his rhetoric is fiery, one has to wonder if pinning the crisis so squarely on immigration misses the deeper, decades-long underbuilding of homes that’s left us millions of units short.
Turner’s response includes an audit of public housing authorities to verify citizenship status, alongside scrapping mortgage programs for unauthorized migrants that were offered previously.
He’s also prioritizing American citizens for HUD housing and moving to an English-only model, while noting that HUD currently serves only one in four eligible families due to lax enforcement of rules barring federal aid to noncitizens.
Critics like Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman aren’t buying the focus, arguing, “You are worsening the housing crisis with your budget proposal,” suggesting that slashing HUD’s funding by over 50% undercuts any claim of wanting to solve the problem. Well, if you’re going to swing a hammer at policy, at least make sure it’s hitting the right nail.
