Healthcare leaders in New York are warning of a potential caregiver crisis if Temporary Protected Status is permanently revoked from immigrant healthcare workers
Thousands of families across the country remain in fear after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could strip away humanitarian protections for Haitians and Syrians in the United States, clearing the way for their potential deportation, a win for the president’s immigration crackdown agenda
It was supposed to expire Friday, but according to the Department of Homeland Security, extensions were given to TPS recipients with work authorization – July 17 for Syrians and July 24 for Haitians
“They have become like family”
Friday, workers, patients and immigrant families in New York sounded the alarm
“We are going to have patients who will no longer have a caretaker,” said Kevin Thomas, president of the New York State Association of Health Care Providers
“They have become like family. They know us. They understand us, our needs,” said Katie Sanchez, who lives with a disability
“Imagine seniors and individuals living with disabilities waking up to find their favorite aide is just gone,” one speaker said
“If I go back, they’re going to kill me”
Congress created TPS in 1990 to provide protection from deportation for people, regardless of their status, whose home countries are unsafe to return to and grant permits for them to legally work.
Today, Haiti remains unsafe for many
“Is it fair for TPS workers to suffer?” said Genevieve Artamin, a caregiver at a nursing home
“If I go back to Haiti, they’re going to kill me,” said one nursing home employee who is also a TPS recipient
Sabine French’s 91-year old mother, Martha, relies on her caregiver, a TPS recipient who left Haiti during the 2010 earthquake
“[My mother] has mobility and vision issues. So for me, I consider her caregiver to be her second set of eyes and legs,” French said. “My biggest fear is my mother not having her caregiver.”
Healthcare workers are now urging Congress and the federal government to find a permanent solution for TPS recipients, saying New York’s healthcare system could lose some of the very people running it
