Trump’s Immigration Policy Threatens the Housing Market – Report

A report by a media outlet reveals that Trump’s plan to mass deport immigrants could backfire for the housing market as the immigrants have ensured the construction labor costs stay lower as compared to costs that would be incurred if a native-born workforce was to completely replace them.

The fears about mass deportations of immigrants are not new. Similar news had been making the rounds as the election campaign was in full sway. The new president-elect Donald Trump had pushed the election campaign with calls for mass deportation as being an integral part of his immigration policy. Now that the Trump administration is set to take over, the fears are being echoed everywhere in the society.

But what impact could it have on the American economy?

An important aspect that has been overlooked is the impact the deportations will have on the U.S economy. The undocumented immigrants are known to work in sectors ranging from agriculture to construction. The construction sector is likely to take the hardest hit if the mass deportation drive was to be implemented as they constitute around 13% of the total workforce.

According to the CEO of a Texas-based specialty subcontracting firm, the immigrants were responsible for “building our houses,” for the past three decades, and “losing the workers would devastate our companies, our industry, and our economy.”

Now these fears have been confirmed in a report released by USA Today which states the potential consequences that may arise out of the Trump Administration’s plans for immigration. In the report that consulted the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), it was disclosed that attempts at mass deportation would affect the economy with the construction and housing sector set to suffer the greatest impact as compared to other sectors.

According to the Chief Advocacy Officer Ken Wingert of NAHB:

“We think that we need a comprehensive immigration strategy and reform and hope that Congress will get back to that when they come back in January. We’re in favor of getting more workers into the workforce overall to try to help ease this housing supply crunch that we’re in”

The report has confirmed the fact that the immigrants have been keeping the labor costs in the construction sector low as would otherwise be the case with native-born labor. This advantage will no longer be there if the immigrants were no longer available for work.

The USA Today report has expressed fears over what the implications could be for the housing sector. It cited the executive director for Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Michael Lukens, who said that “Mass deportations would cripple the construction and housing market,” further adding that “It would cripple the agricultural market. It would be incredibly expensive and it would destroy the economy. And it’s not acceptable on any level, both the human level and the economic level.”

The report also reveals the danger looming large for an economy and country that needs millions of additional homes if workers who were part of the construction sector were to be deported.

With the construction sector expected to experience a boom all over the world, the heavy equipment suppliers are making attempts at offering used heavy equipment, such as earth moving equipment and heavy moving machinery for the best price. Buy the equipment you need before the prices increase. 

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