To the Editor:<\/p>\n
Re \u201cMigrant Policy Creating Crisis for Elder Care<\/a>\u201d (front page, July 22):<\/p>\n The heartbreaking disruptions to the caregiving work force caused by the Trump administration\u2019s ruthless campaign against immigrants are poised to get even worse.<\/p>\n This fall, the Labor Department is expected to issue regulations stripping minimum wage and overtime protections for more than one million home care workers. These workers, disproportionately immigrant women, provide vital care to seniors and people with disabilities \u2014 assisting with basic activities like bathing, meal preparation and medication management and enabling them to remain at home instead of going into institutionalized settings.<\/p>\n Their wages are already among the lowest in the U.S. work force. Coupled with anticipated cuts to Medicaid benefits for in-home care<\/a>, slashing workers\u2019 pay to the bone will exacerbate turnover in an industry facing a severe labor shortage.<\/p>\n As your article demonstrates, each worker pushed out of caregiving leaves behind not just bewilderment and grief but also deep uncertainty about who will step in to deliver needed care.<\/p>\n Gillian Thomas To the Editor:<\/p>\n For about 20 years at the end of their lives, my parents lived with me, my husband and our daughter. Both of my parents died in our home, in hospice care, in their 90s.<\/p>\n Your excellent article about the effects of immigration policies on elder care focuses on senior-care facilities, but the loss of immigrant workers also creates a crisis for families caring for loved ones at home.<\/p>\n As my parents became ill and unable to care for themselves, we relied on two part-time aides, including one from Haiti. It was only because of these wonderful women that we maintained our living arrangement for so long. They provided personal care, drove my parents to appointments and acted as compassionate companions.<\/p>\n These women enabled my parents to remain with people who loved them. They allowed me to continue working and contributing to our family\u2019s financial stability. They enabled our daughter to enjoy a close relationship with her grandparents that sustains her even now.<\/p>\n Although my parents made plans for this care, it was expensive \u2014 and the changes wrought by the Trump administration will make it unavailable for many. We will regret the loss of immigrant workers. Even MAGA boomers get old.<\/p>\n Marilyn Tal Canceling Federal Grants Based on Politics<\/p>\n To the Editor:<\/p>\n Re \u201cPolitics Cost Blue States U.S. Grants<\/a>\u201d (Business, July 25):<\/p>\n So much of what the Trump administration has done is reprehensible, but canceling grants to states that did not vote for Donald Trump is over the top. How can Republican lawmakers be OK with this? How can anyone who believes in democracy be OK with it?<\/p>\n How much more damage is this administration going to do before Republicans find a shred of decency or respect for the rule of law? When will they say to Mr. Trump, \u201cEnough!\u201d?<\/p>\n To the Editor:<\/p>\n
New York
The writer is a senior counsel at the Women\u2019s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.<\/p>\n
Princeton, N.J.<\/p>\n