The policymakers called on President Trump to reverse plans to end the program.<\/p>\n
Katia Guillaume, vice president of a union that represents 450,000 healthcare workers in five states including Massachusetts, said deporting so many Haitian immigrants would devastate the nation\u2019s health care system.<\/p>\n
It would force \u201ccancellation of important surgeries, clients not able to get the valued care that they need from their personal care assistance, residents in nursing homes would not be waking up to their favorite [nurse assistant,]\u201d said Guillaume, who represents 1199 SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East. \u201cThey have been there for our members and our patients during the darkest times, and to now face layoffs, potential deportations and detentions.\u201d<\/p>\n
An estimated 45,000 Massachusetts residents are Haitians who have TPS status, according to the International Institute of New England<\/a> and Greater Boston is home to the third-largest Haitian community in the country.<\/p>\n Pressley did not attend Thursday\u2019s event because of illness, an aide said. But her office announced a \u201cdischarge petition\u201d that could compel the House to vote on a bill to require the Trump Administration to extend Temporary Protected Status for Haiti for three years. The discharge petition will need 218 signatures in the House to move forward. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are parents, workers, faith leaders, and caregivers who have served as a backbone for families in need and through the hardest of times, caring for our elders in the twilight of their lives and for our loved ones battling illness,\u201d Pressley said in a statement. <\/p>\n \u201cExtending TPS for Haiti isn\u2019t just the moral, humanitarian thing to do\u2014it is also good policy, ensuring that our TPS holders, many of whom work in healthcare and elder care sectors, can continue their essential work and contributions to our communities,” she said.<\/p>\n In late November, Trump\u2019s Department of Homeland Security said it would revoke TPS for Haitians on Feb. 3.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter reviewing country conditions and consulting with appropriate U.S. Government agencies, the Secretary determined that Haiti no longer meets the conditions for the designation for Temporary Protected Status,\u201d according to a notice published in the Federal Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the need for Haitian workers in the U.S. will only grow. By 2050, the U.S. population 65 and older will rise by 50 percent, yet the U.S. is currently facing a projected shortage of 3.5 million healthcare workers by 2030.<\/p>\n Massachusetts Senior Care, a trade association for nursing homes, estimates that approximately 2,000 direct care workers have been at risk of losing work authorization since Trump issued executive orders<\/a> last January that outlined sweeping changes <\/a>to America\u2019s immigration system, including his plan to end temporary protected status<\/a> for the country\u2019s more than 1 million immigrants.<\/p>\n Tara Gregorio, president of Massachusetts Senior Care, said nursing home workers here from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela started receiving notices in June from the federal government revoking their status<\/a> when Trump eliminated the Biden-era Humanitarian Parole Program,<\/a><\/p>\n In response, she said her association has been preparing for potential workforce losses by working with Governor Maura Healey\u2019s administration and immigrant advocacy organizations to expand access to legal counsel, supported legal challenges, and worked with nursing home administrators to help workers pursue asylum or permanent resident status.<\/p>\n At the same time, she said, providers have stepped up recruitment and training initiatives to grow the direct care workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile these efforts have resulted in additional [nursing assistants] entering the field, we remain deeply concerned that the loss of experienced workers could lead to disruptions in access to care for older adults and people with disabilities\u201d in some Massachusetts nursing homes, Gregorio said. <\/p>\n The nursing home industry has struggled for years to recruit enough workers, particularly nurses and nursing assistants, to care for residents.<\/p>\n Gregorio said Massachusetts facilities right now face a 13 percent vacancy rate for these direct care workers \u2014 and that\u2019s before potentially mass deportations of its Haitian immigrants.<\/p>\n Katey Cao, who directs human resources for nursing homes in Framingham, Worcester, Hyannis, Dorchester, and Cambridge, said her company\u2019s five facilities could lose a total of 20 nursing assistants, or roughly eight percent of their contingent, through the Haitian TPS revocation \u2014 a scenario she called \u201chugely impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is on top of regular openings that we already heavily recruit for,\u201d said Cao, who works for Landmark Management Solutions.<\/p>\n Nursing assistants are the backbone of the industry, the ones who bathe, feed, and comfort residents.<\/p>\n She said that beyond the numbers, there are deep bonds that residents form with their nurses that will be broken, as will the lives of their many workers who may be deported.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not working in an industry where you put something in a box and ship it down the street,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is people. These are lives that are being impacted.\u201d <\/p>\n Kay Lazar can be reached at kay.lazar@globe.com<\/a> Follow her @GlobeKayLazar<\/a>.<\/p>\n