Trump administration says deportations are lowering rents; what the data shows

“DHS is reducing your rent, especially in states that cooperate with @ICEgov,” the official Homeland Security account tweeted on X, tagging the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Listing several US states, the federal agency alluded to sharp rent drops across the country as it urged citizens to support mass deportations if they want a lower cost of living.

“Texas accounted for about a quarter of ICE arrests in July and posted the country’s sharpest rent drops, with San Antonio down 4.8%, Austin 4.3%, Dallas and Houston about 3%,” the post added. “Miami’s average rent is down 2.6%. Phoenix is down 4.2%. Atlanta is down 3.2%. Nashville is down 5.3%. New Orleans is down 8%.”

Record-high illegal immigrants arrested in August

Earlier this month, DHS released official statistics, announcing that ICE arrested nearly 51,000 undocumented foreign nationals in August 2026. The numbers surpassed July’s total to attain a new record for the highest number of illegal immigrants arrested in a month.

DHS is reducing your rent, especially in states that cooperate with @ICEgov. Texas accounted for about a quarter of ICE arrests in July and posted the country’s sharpest rent drops, with San Antonio down 4.8%, Austin 4.3%, Dallas and Houston about 3%. Miami’s average rent is down 2.6%. Phoenix is down 4.2%. Atlanta is down 3.2%. Nashville is down 5.3%. New Orleans is down 8%.   Research shows that illegal-worker inflows push rents and home prices up. That inflow has been reversed in the states running the hardest interior enforcement.   Want lower cost of living: support mass deportations.— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 25, 2026

According to the Trump administration, these arrests targeted “criminal illegal aliens” across the US, including those convicted of serious crimes such as DUI manslaughter, murder, sexual assault of a minor, child pornography, and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. DHS also maintained that more than 3 million undocumented immigrants have departed from the United States since Donald Trump returned to office last year.

The current administration has repeatedly issued reminders that foreign nationals who are present in the country illegally have the opportunity to secure $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport using the CBP Home App.

“We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return,” the government department added in an official statement dated September 2, 2026.

A more recent report published by the Associated Press, citing unnamed current and former ICE officials, revealed that the enforcement agency has stopped publicly disclosing where thousands of its detainees subject to final deportation orders are being held. Reflecting the hardline strategies employed by the Trump administration as part of its widespread immigration crackdown, the unannounced decision has since made it extremely hard for lawyers and families to find these people.

Claims about deportations and living cost

Trump’s promises about heading the biggest deportation drive the US has ever seen emerged as one of his signature campaign agendas for his second presidential term.

Back in June, the Trump White House issued a public release proclaiming that the Republican leader was driving down rents by ending the “open borders disaster.” The official statement boasted how the POTUS’
decisive enforcement” of the country’s immigration laws was producing “real results for hardworking families,” including 46 million US renters.

Even at the time, the administration claimed that rents witnessing a dramatic decline across the US for the first time in years as record surge in illegal immigration was being reversed under Trump’s leadership.

“Net international migration collapsed more than 50% nationally in 2025 — the sharpest drop on record — easing the crushing pressure on housing created by Biden’s open borders disaster,” the Trump White House stated earlier this year. “With far fewer new arrivals competing for housing, vacancy rates have risen, and landlords are now forced to compete on price.”

Other figures contradict DHS

As opposed to the “reduced rent” data cited by DHS on social media, other revelations appear not only to contest these claims, but also make a case for how the shift may have emerged even before immigration raids intensified.

Data from Realtor.com on the rental market indicated that June 2026 was the 35th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in the 50 largest markets in the US. The streak has since stretched to 37 months in August. Those figures further showed that the trend started in mid-2024 and was largely triggered post-pandemic by an increase in multifamily housing construction.

Miami-Dade alone added 18,400 new apartment units between 2024 and mid-2026, accounting for the largest construction streak since the 1980s. According to forecasts by Realtor.com, the city is expected to add 14,000 units this year and an additional 18,000 in 2027. Regardless of the immigration trend, these growing numbers will likely reduce pressure on prices.

Housing advocates and other experts speaking to NBC San Diego in June echoed those findings, saying that the rent drop predates Trump’s mass deportation drive and could largely be attributed to booming housing construction.

“Rental prices move for many reasons, and it’s difficult to attribute changes to any single factor,” Molly Kirkland, of the Southern California Rental Housing Association, said in a statement, as quoted by the local US news outlet. “In San Diego, rents are influenced by housing supply, vacancy rates, demand, employment, interest rates, and the cost of expenses such as insurance and maintenance. Over the past two years, we’ve seen a significant increase in new multifamily housing coming onto the market with apartment buildings being built. This increase in housing supply contributed to lower rents.”

Saad Asad, of pro-housing group California YIMBY, which stands for “yes in my backyard,” similarly looked back to the pandemic era, adding that the link between immigration and housing prices wasn’t as strong as the White House made it out to be.

“These people only make up a small share of the overall large population,” he told the NBC affiliate. “One of the biggest price spikes that we saw was during the pandemic, when immigration was actually at an all-time low, and we saw something like 30% price hikes over one year. So clearly it had nothing to do with immigration. It was just this demand spike and insufficient supply.”

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only and is based on publicly available immigration guidance. Rules and deadlines are subject to change; readers should verify current requirements directly with USCIS or consult a qualified immigration attorney before making decisions based on this information. Financial Express is not responsible for any decisions made based on this information.