Immigrants, Rents & Wages
U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D–WA) claims that “immigrants didn’t raise your rent” or “rig the economy.”
IN FACT, recent surges of immigration, especially illegal immigration during the Biden administration, appear to have raised rents and rigged the economy against low-income workers. Here are the specifics:
- A 2017 study in the Journal of Housing Economics found that the “United States has experienced a surge of immigration” during the “last three decades,” which is “associated with increases in rents and with house prices” in the areas where these immigrants settled.
- A 2025 HUD report on “critical problems facing low-income renting families” states, “One key cause of elevated worst case needs is immigration. Between 2021 and 2024, the foreign-born population of the United States increased by more than 6 million — the largest such increase over such a short period in American history. The foreign-born population now stands at more than 53 million individuals, making up the highest share of the American population in history. This immigration-driven increase in households has contributed to a significant increase in housing demand, thus driving up housing prices.”
- A 2016 analysis by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) found that the bulk of studies show immigration has reduced the wages of some U.S.-born workers and that the wages of high school “dropouts tend to be more negatively affected” than “better-educated” Americans.
The full effects of illegal immigration are difficult to measure because these people operate in the shadows, but the available facts suggest that they have negative economic impacts on certain groups of Americans, particularly poor people and taxpayers.
