America’s housing supply and affordability crisis is amplified by an often-overlooked force: the rising cost of construction. Homebuilders face labor shortages, soaring material costs, supply chain disruptions, and tariffs that dramatically increase the price of building new homes.
Immigration reform has long been a cornerstone of NAHREP’s policy priorities and a central pillar of the organization’s advocacy efforts. Not only are NAHREP members passionate about immigration policy, but immigrants play an essential role in the housing industry in terms of both supply and demand. In recent months, increased immigration enforcement, including massively expanded deportation efforts, has reiterated the urgency of this issue.
At last month’s Homeownership and Housing Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. NAHREP released the 2025 Policy Priorities, which will guide the organization’s advocacy efforts throughout the coming year. A blend of tried and true methods and bold new policy proposals, these Priorities provide a roadmap to expanding access to sustainable Hispanic homeownership by addressing the nation’s most pressing housing challenges.
This week, NAHREP issued a statement expressing our disappointment in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as unlawful. Last year, a Texas-based U.S. District Judge also ruled the program unlawful, in part because it did not follow typical administrative procedure – it had not been subjected to appropriate public notice and comment periods required under Federal law. Last week, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Texas court’s ruling, sending the case back to the lower court to review the newest version of the rule issued by the Biden Administration in late August.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of the DACA program or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. For ten years, Dreamers who arrived in this country as minors have been able to live close-to-normal lives when it comes to work, education, and basic government services without the fear of deportation. I want to remind us all that these are our friends, NAHREP members, NAHREP clients, and NAHREP family members. However, the program has come under attack by various court cases, and in the midst of one of the most politically polarized environments this country has ever seen, DACA is on shaky ground.
American prosperity has always been built upon the backs of immigrant labor. People can feel different ways about this subject, but no matter which way you put it, immigrants have been critical to filling labor gaps for as long as we can trace the history of this country. Today, there is no denying that we are facing major labor shortages and it is impacting ALL of us. It is increasing the prices for goods and services, and it is impacting our bread and butter: new home construction.
Recently, some of our NAHREP leaders were asked: “How would you describe NAHREP to elected officials?” I think the most important thing to remember in answering that question, is that when you describe NAHREP to elected officials or to any community leader in general, it is important to establish what we are, what we stand for, and why we matter in 30 seconds.
First of all, Happy Veterans Day to all of our amazing veterans in our NAHREP familia. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice and your dedication to this country. All of you are our heroes and you are the embodiment of service to others. Today’s blog is about negotiations. My dad is an expert bargainer, I think its inherent in our culture. I used to get embarrassed by how much he would bargain for everything, but he taught me some valuable lessons.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Well, at NAHREP, every month is Hispanic Heritage Month. T-minus 13 days until NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE! For those of you who have attended the NAHREP at L’ATTITUDE conference in San Diego before but have never left downtown, please make it a point to go to our beaches! They are truly some of the greatest gems we have in the country and given everything we have all been through these past two years, lost loved ones, life turned upside down, we all need some TLC.
I like to think of the NAHREP National Advocacy Committee (NAC) as an organization within the larger NAHREP organization. For those of you who care about making a difference for Latinos, and care about policy, there is a home for you within NAHREP and I have every intention of working with all of you to make NAHREP the most powerful Latino organization in the country. The NAC, like most of NAHREP, is made up mostly of volunteers – passionate individuals who want to work together, learn together, and grow our voice together. On the national staff we have a small but mighty group of people who are dedicated full time to supporting these efforts. The team consists of two rock stars, Jaime Smeraski and Dustin Robinson, as well as myself. But there’s another group that is critical to our efforts: our lobbyists.