President Trump’s Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, who has repeatedly blamed illegal migration for the current housing crisis (a lack of affordable housing for low income Americans), was questioned by members of Congress this week about housing and the related construction labor shortages.
Note: Not all professionals in the industry agree with Turner that migration is the one and only cause for the crisis. As Jenna Stauffer, Global Real Estate Advisor at Sotheby’s International Realty of Key West told Fox News, “Housing affordability has been unraveling for years, and the problems we’re dealing with go way beyond any one factor.”
U.S. Representative Maria Salazar (R-FL) addressed Turner: “Right now, one in three — masons, carpenters, drywall installers, roofers, framers — they are immigrants. You have a seat at the table of the Cabinet and you know the construction sector is losing that stable, secure labor force. And the United States citizens are not choosing to fill those jobs. Don’t you think that maybe you can tell the President that right now you do not have the hands we need in those sectors in order to continue to have affordability in the housing industry?”
.@RepMariaSalazar to HUD @SecretaryTurner on construction labor shortages: "You have a seat at the table…Maybe you can tell the president that, right now, we do not have the hands that we need in those sectors in order to continue having affordability in the housing industry?" pic.twitter.com/TdVspMfDLD
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2026
Turner replied, “I personally believe we have the American workers to take these jobs.” The Secretary added, “I don’t know why they’re not choosing those jobs. Those jobs are available.” Turner also suggested that industry organizations “do a survey with private sector people to ask them why they’re not taking these jobs.”
Salazar pressed Turner, and asked more than once, “In the meantime, what do we do?” Turner replied, “Continue to enforce and encourage the trades, and make sure American people have American jobs.”
Note: Salazar first introduced The Dignity Act in 2023, “to stabilize the workforce that builds America’s homes, increases housing supply and drives affordability.” According to the bill, it provides “undocumented individuals with an opportunity to obtain legal status if they meet certain requirements, and update aspects of the U.S. legal immigration system.”
Salazar re-introduced the Dignity Act in July 2025 as one “based on the biblical principles of Dignity. It will restore law and order to our immigration system and support American workers. It was written in consultation with American business leaders, agriculture and farming industries, the faith-based community, immigration reform groups, and border security experts.”
The Dignity Act still needs to pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the President to become law, though its practical value is increasingly in question under current circumstances. Even if such a law were to be passed and create a pathway for undocumented workers to help ease the housing crisis, those workers would need to report to immigration authorities as part of the compliance process. That aspect of compliance has been discouraged by the Department of Homeland Security, which has charged ICE agents with intercepting undocumented workers during immigration court meetings as they attempt to meet compliance obligations.
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