Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran told Fox News that recent deportations are easing inflation and that a surge of migrants without matching housing supply played a major role in pushing home prices higher.
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran explained on Fox News that migration pushed housing demand well past supply, and that enforcement actions are now easing price pressure. He framed the policy shift as having direct consequences for inflation, arguing the housing market reacts slowly while population changes can be sudden. That view lines up with Republican concerns about border policy and economic stability.
“A significant amount of the inflation that we experienced for years is because we through millions of new people into the country without sufficiently expanding the housing stock and sufficient expansion of other forms of fixed capital,” Miran said. He added that people who enter the country need places to live, and that housing supply cannot expand instantly to absorb large inflows. These are straightforward supply-and-demand dynamics that many economists recognize as having real effects on prices.
“The truth is that they’re living somewhere, and that’s a place where other people in America aren’t living, and that was inflationary.” Miran did not mince words about the link between migration and price pressure, and he went further to highlight how reducing net migration changes the picture. “Cutting down net migration to zero, potentially even negative because of the deportations that have been occurring, I think, is very deflationary.”
Fox News: “Do you agree with the Vice President… that the number of people that came into the country illegally is one of the major factors that drove up housing prices?”
Fed Governor Stephen Miran: “So I absolutely believe that is the case… The supply of homes adjusts only very slowly, and if you throw a large number of new people into an economy, you’re going to push up the price of housing because people need a place to live.” “And the supply of homes can’t expand instantly. It takes time.”
The Trump administration has made housing affordability a policy focus, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner emphasized that on Fox News. Officials are arguing that enforcement and supply-side measures need to work together to relieve price stress. That framing flips the usual political script and places border control squarely in the economic debate.
Vice President J.D. Vance tied higher housing costs directly to illegal immigration in a Fox News interview with Hannity, saying that 30 million illegal immigrants flooded the country during the Biden administration and drove up prices. That stark figure got national attention and helped push the administration to link immigration enforcement with affordability goals. Republicans point to those numbers to make the case for tougher border policy as an economic necessity.
The youngest vice president in history challenged why many young voters backed candidates he called communists and radicals, and he framed current policy as a course correction. He said the administration is focused on bringing down costs so young people can afford to buy homes. That message is meant to connect immigration policy with suburban and working-class concerns where housing costs bite hardest.
Alongside enforcement, the administration has used trade tools and market probes to attack price pressures elsewhere in the economy. Trump’s team has cut some tariffs, and officials are probing alleged price-fixing in the meat-packing industry to bring down grocery bills. Those moves are presented as part of a coordinated push to lower everyday costs while addressing the root demand-side issue the Fed described.
Policy debates over migration, housing supply, and inflation are now entangled, and the political stakes are clear. Republican leaders argue that secure borders and faster construction are practical levers to relieve price pressure and restore normal market functioning. The Fed’s comments give that argument economic credibility and strengthen calls for complementary policy action from Congress and the executive branch.
Officials on the right say the broader story is about restoring order to markets disrupted by sudden demographic shifts and policy choices. They see the current mix of deportations, tariff adjustments, and competition probes as necessary, if blunt, tools to stabilize prices. The conversation will shape policy choices in the months ahead as the administration pushes to make housing more affordable without abandoning market principles.
