Trenton, NJ – Nearly one year after a Pew Research Center report documented one of the fastest increases in New Jersey’s unauthorized immigrant population in decades, the state’s housing shortage has become one of the defining issues facing the new Sherrill administration.
Last month, Governor Mikie Sherrill announced a series of initiatives aimed at expanding housing production and lowering costs, describing New Jersey’s affordability challenges as requiring immediate action. While the governor did not attribute the shortage to immigration, the announcement comes as updated Pew data shows New Jersey continues to rank among the states with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations following a historic nationwide surge.
“We simply cannot afford 10-year studies while housing becomes more and more unaffordable,” Sherrill said when announcing the expansion of the NJ HOMES initiative and nearly $35 million in new affordable housing financing.
“If we want the next generation to stay here, build careers here, and raise families here, we have to make housing more affordable in New Jersey, which is why my Administration is hitting the ground sprinting on housing affordability.”
Pew finds record immigration growth as factor for NJ’s record housing crisis
According to Pew Research Center, the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population reached 14 million people in 2023, an all-time high after increasing by 3.5 million people in just two years—the largest increase the organization has ever measured.
“The number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023 after two consecutive years of record growth,” Pew wrote. “The increase of 3.5 million in two years is the biggest on record.”
New Jersey was estimated to have approximately 600,000 unauthorized immigrants, the fifth-largest population in the country behind California, Texas, Florida and New York. The report also identified New Jersey among eight states that added at least 75,000 unauthorized immigrants between 2021 and 2023.
Researchers also found that about 9% of New Jersey households included at least one unauthorized immigrant, tying the Garden State with California, Texas and Florida for one of the highest shares nationwide. Nationally, Pew estimated a record 7.5 million households included unauthorized immigrants in 2023.
Housing demand continues to outpace supply
Sherrill’s administration says New Jersey faces “a persistent shortage of housing that has contributed to rising rents and escalating home prices,” making expanded housing construction one of its top policy priorities.
The administration announced applications for a second round of municipalities participating in the New Jersey Housing Opportunities for Municipal Equity and Success (NJ HOMES) initiative, which provides technical assistance to local governments seeking to increase housing production. Officials also announced the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency raised nearly $35 million through its Affordable Housing Tax Credit auction to support affordable and workforce housing developments statewide.
“New Jersey, like much of the rest of the country, faces a persistent shortage of housing that has contributed to rising rents and escalating home prices,” the governor’s office said. “The Sherrill Administration has made addressing this shortage a top priority, recognizing that increasing housing supply is essential to improving long-term affordability.”
Although the timing of the two developments has fueled political debate, the Pew report stops short of saying unauthorized immigration caused New Jersey’s housing shortage. Instead, it documents demographic changes while state officials separately cite insufficient housing construction as the primary driver behind rising costs.
Pew also noted that much of the recent increase came from immigrants who entered the United States under temporary humanitarian programs or while awaiting asylum proceedings. The report states that roughly 6 million unauthorized immigrants had some protection from deportation in 2023, compared with 2.7 million in 2021, following immigration policy changes during the Biden administration.
Looking ahead, Pew said preliminary data suggests the unauthorized immigrant population likely began declining during 2025 because of increased deportations and reduced temporary protections under the Trump administration, although researchers said more complete data will be needed to measure the full impact of those policy changes.
