Fed Economists: Biden-Era Illegal Immigration Drove Up U.S. Housing Costs
- A Federal Reserve research paper finds the 2021-2024 immigration surge pushed U.S. home prices up roughly 2.2% and rents up about 1.4%, adding to the affordability crisis (Fox Business, citing Fed economists).
- The study isolates demand-side pressure from foreign-born population growth on top of the already-tight housing supply, framing immigration as a meaningful — though not primary — driver of the shelter inflation that has complicated the Fed's rate path.
- The finding is politically charged ahead of the 2026 midterm cycle but gives hard data to a debate that has mostly been fought with anecdotes, and could shape housing-inflation assumptions in upcoming Fed forecasts.