VICTOR JOECKS: Housing costs and immigration

More than 7 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States since Biden took office. It’s closer to 10 million once you include known “gotaways.” In June, Fox News reported that ICE has 7.4 million cases on its non-detained docket. Those are illegal entrants who’ve been released while awaiting a hearing. It also includes illegal aliens who are supposed to be deported but remain here. That’s 4 million cases higher than it was under Donald Trump in 2020.

There are many downsides to this. Start with crimes committed — including rape and murder — by those in the country illegally. Victims include Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, Rachel Morin, a mom of five in Maryland and Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl in Texas. In many cases, U.S. officials previously had the suspect in custody but then released him.

As blue cities have learned the hard way, it can be financially crippling to provide for illegal immigrants. But here’s a problem most people don’t think about. Illegal entrants increase housing costs. It’s supply and demand.

Let’s set the number of people who have entered the country illegally under the current administration at 9 million. The U.S. population is 336.7 million. That means illegal immigrants who’ve entered under Biden are equivalent to nearly 2.7 percent of the U.S. population.

Pew Research Center estimated there were 10.5 million illegal migrants living in the United States in 2021, the same number as 2017. It estimated that 190,000 illegal aliens lived in Nevada in 2021.

Assume those additional 9 million people are evenly distributed throughout the country, even though Nevada is likely to have more. That would put another 86,000 illegal entrants in Nevada, for a total of 276,000. That’s 8.6 percent of our state’s population.

A rapid surge in population is problematic in housing because demand for housing is inelastic. That’s a fancy economic term meaning buyers don’t adjust their demand for a product much even as prices soar. That makes sense. Everyone moving here needs a place to live. But new housing, even apartments, takes time and money to build. There are other constraints, such as how much land the federal government controls in Clark County.

This is especially problematic for low-skilled citizens. Illegal immigrants compete for jobs. That reduces pay or the potential for pay hikes. The rapid population increase also drives up the price of rent. That’s a brutal double whammy.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, if Trump wins in November, it won’t be. That starts with closing the border. While a wall would be nice, the most important thing to do is for Trump to reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Under Biden, illegal immigrants are turning themselves in to Border Patrol and seeking asylum. Even with a bogus asylum claim, they know they’ll be released into the interior of the country as they wait for a hearing years in the future. Trump changed that dynamic by making migrants wait in Mexico while their asylum claims were processed. As a result, most of those without a valid asylum claim didn’t bother coming.

Both logistically and politically, deportations are harder, but Trump needs to work on those, too. The obvious is working with local law enforcement to deport any illegal immigrant arrested for a crime. Resolve asylum cases as quickly as possible and ensure those without valid claims leave. More funding from Congress is likely necessary. Work with Congress to require E-Verify. Defund the illegal immigration industrial complex.

If Trump slows illegal entries to a trickle and starts deportations, Las Vegas’ high housing costs probably would drop. More succinctly: To lower housing prices, get control of illegal immigration.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.