Trump’s Clashing Goals: More Housing, Fewer Immigrants

About this episode

<p>To address the United States’ acute housing shortage, Congress recently passed a landmark piece of legislation designed to encourage the construction of new homes.</p> <p>The problem is that President Trump’s crackdown on immigration has taken aim at the work force required to build those homes.</p> <p>Ronda Kaysen, who covers housing for The New York Times, explains how the U.S. housing industry became so dependent on immigrant labor.</p> <p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/ronda-kaysen" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Ronda Kaysen</strong></a>, a real estate reporter for The New York Times who covers the intersection of housing and society.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/upshot/home-construction-roofers-immigration.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Where did all the American-born roofers go</a>?</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/business/economy/housing-bill-affordability.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here’s what is in the housing bill</a> that just became law.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Philip Cheung for The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>