President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is celebrating a “record-breaking achievement” in immigration enforcement, touting that more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the United States since the president took office in late January.
This week, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had successfully deported more than 605,000 illegal aliens from the U.S. since January 20 — noting the majority are illegal aliens with pending criminal charges or criminal convictions.
In addition, Noem said almost two million illegal aliens have now self-deported from the U.S. during the same period, as she again encouraged millions more illegal aliens to do so using the agency’s “CBP Home” mobile app to secure a free flight and $1,000 stipend.
“The Trump Administration is shattering historic records with more than 2.5 million illegal aliens leaving the U.S. DHS has deported more than 605,000 illegal aliens and another 1.9 million have self-deported,” DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
DHS officials similarly said that the agency had arrested close to 600,000 illegal aliens since Trump took office for his second term.
“Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now,” McLaughlin said. “They know if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return.”
The Trump administration’s fierce immigration crackdown has been, likely most significantly, a boon for Americans in the housing market.
For six consecutive months, for instance, DHS has not released a single illegal alien into the U.S. from the southern border — a statistic that is being felt by Americans looking to buy homes and see their rents reduced after years of sky-high prices.
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Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner noted recently that, coinciding with the massive drop in illegal immigration, there have been four consecutive months of rent decreases.
“The connection between illegal immigration and skyrocketing housing costs is as clear as day,” Vice President JD Vance said. “We are proud to be moving in the right direction. Still so much to do.”
In September, economists in Denmark published research that found mass immigration hugely drives up rents and home prices for the local population.
“… a one percentage point increase in the local immigration influx over a five-year horizon relative to the local population in the base year 1995 leads to an average increase of approximately 6 percent and 11 percent in private rental prices and house prices at the municipal level, respectively, during the same period,” researchers found.
Last year, Center for Immigration Studies researcher Steven Camarota revealed a similar statistic to Congress, stating that “a 5-percentage-point increase in the recent immigrant share of a metro area’s population is associated with a 12-percent increase in the average U.S.-born household’s rent, relative to their income.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.