Officials say loss of immigration status for Haitians could devastate Mass. health care
A change to the immigration status of tens of thousands of Haitians in Massachusetts set to take effect at midnight Tuesday has officials worried about health care staffing shortages.
At 11:59 p.m. Tuesday , barring an order from an appellate court, the Department of Homeland Security will revoke the temporary protected status for Haitians. About 45,000 Haitians hold that status in Massachusetts. They overwhelmingly work in nursing and other health care positions.
The temporary protected status allowed Haitians fleeing the country the authorization to work. A revocation of that status means many health care workers would be forced out their jobs, said Tara Gregorio, president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association. The group represents 400 facilities serving older adults and people with disabilities.
"This would immediately a worsen staffing shortage and disrupt access to care at a time when the sector already has a 13% vacancy rate across nursing positions," Gregorio wrote in an email.
Other officials interviewed Monday said the immigration change could affect one-on-one caregivers for people with disabilities. Some facilities might not have the staff to continue to operate. Haitians with temporary protected status, they said, have lived in the state for years, buying houses and paying taxes.
This comes as a group of lawmakers seeks to better understand the role Haitians with the status play in the state's health care and human services industries.
On Monday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren along with 54 of her colleagues sent a letter to seven health care organizations. The letter asks about likely impacts on the care of older adults and people with disabilities in light of the change in Haitians' status.
While 22% of the state's workforce are immigrants, they make up a full 40% of the home health aides, according to the letter.
"Haitian immigrants are heavily represented in the U.S. health care work force," the lawmakers' letter says. "In hospitals, nursing homes, and home-care settings around the country, many Haitians on TPS perform vital care-related services, including bathing, dressing, feeding, and transferring patients, which allows older adults and people with disabilities to live with dignity."
The letter, addressed to the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, was also sent to Arc of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Nurses Association and Service Employees International Union 509.
A spokesperson for Warren said that while the congressional inquiry focuses on Massachusetts, because of its large Haitian population, lawmakers from across the country signed on because they see it as a national issue.
About 300,000 Haitians have temporary protected status across the country, according to the letter.
Nora Bent, director of government affairs and strategic partnerships for Arc of Massachusetts, said it is hard to quantify how many Haitians with temporary protected status work with disabled people.
In some parts of the state, Haitians with the status made up 10% of the workforce for some human services providers. In other pockets, that percentage was 40%, Bent said.
It's a number that has probably shifted in the months since the Department of Homeland Security announced the change to temporary protected status, according to Bent, as some Haitians have applied for asylum.
Some employees have stopped showing up to work. Many providers have made plans, should immigration officials show up at their doors, Bent said.
"The anxiety is being felt across the board from the staff themselves, obviously the providers, but also the individuals and families who have relationships with these staff people," Bent said. "It's a role where your trust … in the person that's working with you or your loved one, is really critical."
Joe-Ann Fergus, executive director at the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said a revocation of temporary protected status for Haitians working in health care would affect several levels of the system.
"The Massachusetts health care system will receive a devastating blow," Fergus said, which would "create gaps that cannot be filled with the staff who are present."
The union represents 23,000 nurses across the state. It has not asked its members about their immigration status, Fergus said, but many immigrants often work in long-term care and public-sector facilities that care for vulnerable and low-income people – places where pay is often lower and need greater.
Should the temporary protected status for Haitians expire, some facilities might not have the staff to operate, Fergus said. Some of the association's members, she said, are considering moving to Canada, which is also facing shortages of skilled labor.
Last week, the association sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asking her to extend temporary protected status for Haitians beyond Tuesday. It was a matter of patient safety, the letter added.
The association did not receive a reply, Fergus said.
Gov. Maura Healey sent her own letter to Noem last week, saying the change to Haitian's temporary protected status would devastate Massachusetts.
Asked about the requests to extend temporary protected status for Haitians, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday the status was created more than a decade and a half ago and has since morphed into a "de facto asylum program."
"The assertion that the only way we can take care of our seniors is by allowing unvetted illegal aliens and foreigners with criminal records to remain in the country is grossly false and lazy," said department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
The department did not respond to a follow-up question asking about its plans regarding Haitians in Massachusetts who are scheduled to lose their temporary protected status.
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