NY nursing homes urge Trump to preserve legal status for Haitian workers
A coalition representing 400 New York nursing homes is urging the Trump administration to shelve its decision to rescind Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of Haitians who work in the facilities, claiming it will destabilize the workforce and impact services to frail elderly residents.
Under the TPS program, more than 350,000 people from both Haiti and Syria were allowed to live and work in the US while their home countries faced humanitarian crises.
Many Haitians found work in the Empire State at nursing homes — but after the Trump administration’s reversal, their work permits are moot.
“New York has the highest share of immigrant direct care workers of any state, with 40,000 Haitian TPS holders — 7,000 of whom work as nursing assistants and direct care givers,” Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association and the New York State Center for Assisted Living, said in an August 14 letter to Homeland Security Director Markwayne Mullin.
Hanse said New York also is home to one of the nation’s fastest-growing older adult populations, and nursing homes are already struggling to meet rigorous state staffing requirements.
“Any significant reduction in the available workforce would make it more difficult to serve current and new residents, causing a ripple effect that could overwhelm our local hospitals and the entire healthcare system,” he warned.
He asked Mullin to consider exempting the affected Haitian nursing aides from losing their TPS status while they apply to stay in the US.
The Archdiocese of New York, which runs eight nursing facilities, and Jewish not-for-profit groups that run homes for the aged are also appealing for relief.
To comply with the federal order, some affected Haitian workers have already been terminated.
“About 30 staff members have been impacted by TPS. Several have served our customers for more than 15 years and have deep roots in the community, where they have raised their families. As a result, we have had to remove all of these employees from our payroll,” said Scott LaRue, president and CEO of Archcare, the health care ministry for the Archdiocese of New York.
“The elimination of TPS status appears to have been undertaken without adequate consideration of its impact on our health care system and has been deeply harmful to our employees and their families. A decision of this magnitude should have been made only after careful evaluation of its consequences, including a clear plan for how these positions would be backfilled and where replacement staff would come from.”
The Jewish-run Northern Metropolitan Foundation, which runs three nursing care facilities in Rockland County, said 40 to 60 Haitian employees — 15% of its caregiver staff — are impacted.
Some of the Haitian staffers provided by employment agencies have been let go while others directly employed and represented by 1199 Health Care workers are seeking legal help to try to stay employed, said Gedalia Klein, CEO of the Northern Metropolitan Foundation/Northern Services Group.
“There are unintended consequences,” Klein said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul sent her own letter to Mullin to express her strong opposition to the termination of TPS protections for Haitians.
But Trump officials defended ending the “temporary” legal protections for Haitians.
“If people want to come to our country to work, they need to do that by coming here the legal way. The days of open borders, de facto amnesty, and releasing unvetted aliens into American communities and allowing criminals to terrorize American citizens are over,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.
“The assertion that the only way we can support the health care industry is by allowing unvetted illegal aliens to remain in the country is grossly false and lazy.”
The reversal of TPS was “common sense,” US Citizens and Immigration Services spokesman Zach Kahler said.
“DHS is upholding the rule of law and getting back to common sense. Under the Biden administration, TPS was used improperly, extending temporary protections and benefits beyond their intended scope and undermining America’s legal immigration system,” he said.
Congress created TPS through the Immigration Act of 1990. It allows the federal government to temporarily protect people already living in the United States when conditions in their home country — such as war, political instability or natural disaster — make a safe return difficult.
Former President Barack Obama first designated Haiti for TPS in 2010 following the catastrophic earthquake that killed thousands of people and devastated the country’s infrastructure.
TPS for Haitians had been repeatedly extended until President Trump recently terminated the designation. The US Supreme Court recently upheld Trump’s decision after a lower court order attempted to block the reversal.