America’s two vice presidential candidates agreed Tuesday night that America is in the midst of a housing crisis in which too few homes and steady demand have led to soaring costs.
But Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz presented radically different views of how the country got there — and how to fix the problem.
Housing is one of many issues Vance, the Republican nominee, believes are rooted in the arrival of undocumented migrants in America.
“Look, in Springfield, Ohio, and in communities all across this country, you’ve got schools that are overwhelmed, you’ve got hospitals that are overwhelmed, you have got housing that is totally unaffordable because we brought in millions of illegal immigrants to compete with Americans for scarce homes,” Vance said, according to a CBS News transcript. Along with zoning reform, Vance and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have premised much of their policy on an unprecedented mass-deportation plan that they argue would reduce competition for housing.
Walz, the Democratic nominee, said the reasons for America’s housing crisis are more nuanced.
“We can’t blame immigrants for the only reason,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that we don’t have enough naturally affordable housing, but we can make sure that the government’s there to help kick-start it, create that, create that base.” Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, hope to use tax…
