Trump Admin’s Deportation Push Linked to Housing Affordability Gains, White House Adviser Says

By Sam Barron | Thursday, February 19, 2026

White House senior adviser Peter Navarro told Newsmax on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s policies are making housing more affordable for Americans.

In an interview with host Rob Schmitt, Navarro stated: “Housing costs are the biggest part of Americans’ budgets. If you want to win the affordability battle, start there—and we are winning.”

Navarro claimed that for every 1 million people who enter the United States illegally, rents rise by 1%. He noted that during Joe Biden’s four years in office, approximately 20 million undocumented immigrants entered the country, causing a nationwide rent increase of 20%.

“The impact has been most severe in left-leaning cities such as New York and Chicago,” Navarro added.

“Right now, after we’ve deported thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens, rents are dropping dramatically across many American cities,” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Navarro emphasized that while the Trump administration has made progress in deportations, more work remains to be done: “We have not won this fight until we deport the 20 million who came and did not just drive up rents but also took our jobs and depressed wages.”

He further asserted that housing affordability improvements are directly tied to border security policies: “Housing is doing a lot better because of our border security policy.”

Navarro also stated that Democrats caused inflation, while Republicans have been more effective at controlling it.

“It’s not just about lowering the rate of inflation or prices,” he explained. “It’s about driving real wages up—and that’s happening under Donald Trump, just like in his first term. It did not happen with Joe Biden.”