{"id":808606,"date":"2026-05-20T00:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/808606\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T00:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:00:23","slug":"health-care-disruptions-across-massachusetts-if-trump-revokes-tps-for-haitians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/808606\/","title":{"rendered":"Health care disruptions across Massachusetts if Trump revokes TPS for Haitians"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 300,000 people<\/a> from Haiti live in the United States under Temporary Protected Status,<\/a> a program that blocks the deportation of immigrants from certain countries that are undergoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary country conditions. <\/p>\n

In Massachusetts, the end of TPS for Haitians could affect approximately 45,000<\/a> residents who rely on the program<\/a> to live and work here legally. <\/p>\n

The Supreme Court is poised to release a decision<\/a> by the end of its yearly session in late June or early July on whether the Trump administration can revoke these protections. Immigrants who lose TPS would have to leave the country voluntarily, apply for other legal pathways to stay in the United States lawfully, or remain here without legal status, which could make them ineligible for permission to work here \u2014 and subject to potential deportation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe termination of TPS for Haiti threatens to seriously disrupt the healthcare, senior care, and disability care workforces amid a nationwide healthcare crisis and persistent staffing shortages,\u201d the report says. <\/p>\n

The report, called \u201cCare in Crisis: The Healthcare Workforce Consequences of Ending Haitian TPS,\u201d is the product of the lawmakers\u2019 investigation into how the termination of TPS would affect the health, elder, and disability care workforces. <\/p>\n

Warren received responses and data from the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers, The Arc of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Senior Care Association, LeadingAge, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance \u2014 and \u201cevery organization identified Haitian workers as central to the care workforce,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

About 13,000 Haitian TPS holders work as nursing assistants in the United States, caring for approximately 65,000 patients every day, according to National Domestic Workers Alliance data in the report.<\/p>\n

Pressley said in a statement to the Globe that while her mother Sandy was battling leukemia, she was cared for by Haitian nurses \u201cwho met her with compassion … going above and beyond to comfort her before she transitioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are tens of thousands of people just like her across America who receive the same essential care from Haitian TPS holders,\u201d Pressley said. \u201cThis report makes plain the essential role that Haitian TPS holders play in our care economy and communities writ-large.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts Senior Care Association, which has 350 long-term care facilities across the state,<\/a> told the investigators about 2,000 care workers either already lost or remain at risk of losing their work authorization because of the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to end legal pathways for immigrants to stay in the United States. There is already a 13 percent vacancy rate for direct care roles, the association said. <\/p>\n

The nursing home industry in particular<\/a> has faced years of difficulties in recruiting enough workers to look after residents, especially nurses and nursing assistants. The senior care association warned that these staffing shortfalls could \u201cforce some facilities to limit new admissions thereby aggravating existing bottlenecks in the broader healthcare system,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers told Warren\u2019s office <\/b>that without Haitian workers with TPS, <\/b>its members would have had about 50 shifts go unfilled on Feb. 3, the day a federal judge temporarily blocked the administration\u2019s effort to end TPS for Haiti. <\/p>\n

The patients being cared for, the group said, are \u201csome of the most fragile people in the Commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA TPS holder cares for someone\u2019s elderly grandparent, feeds and tends to someone\u2019s child, and nurses back to health someone\u2019s sick loved one,\u201d Markey said in a statement to the Globe.<\/p>\n

The Arc of Massachusetts<\/a>, a Waltham-based advocacy organization for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, said that there were already reports of some caregivers skipping work due to fear of immigration enforcement, or self-deporting from the United States entirely. <\/p>\n

The loss of these trusted caregivers \u201cwould likely result in service disruptions and a reduced ability for individuals with IDD and autism to live safely and with dignity in community-based programs,\u201d The Arc of Massachusetts said in a letter to Warren quoted in the report.<\/p>\n

Some Haitians on TPS <\/a>have been in the United States for a decade or longer<\/a>. Haitian nationals were granted TPS after the country\u2019s devastating 2010 earthquake,<\/a> which killed more than 200,000 people, wreaked havoc on the economy, and led to years of government instability. Deadly gang violence has surged since the 2021 assassination of the country\u2019s president, Jovenel Mo\u00efse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has repeatedly said publicly that Haitians can now return home <\/b>even though <\/b>gangs still commandeer about 90 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital city<\/a>. The State Department also recently renewed its highest tier level four \u201cDo Not Travel\u201d advisory for Haiti, due to \u201ckidnapping, crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, and limited health care,\u201d<\/a> in the country. <\/p>\n

The Trump administration nevertheless seems determined to end the TPS program. After the federal judge temporarily halted the administration\u2019s move to dismantle TPS, the administration appealed to the Supreme Court. <\/p>\n

In a statement to the Globe, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that TPS \u201cwas never intended to be a de facto asylum program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States has had a generous asylum program \u2013 those who can prove a need for it should apply instead of expecting extensions of their temporary status,” the spokesperson said. \u201cThe Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressley, a Democrat who is the cochair for the House Haiti Caucus, in April led a bipartisan charge in the House<\/a> to extend TPS for Haitians for three more years<\/a>, with 10 Republicans siding with Democrats in favor of the bill.<\/p>\n

The measure has yet to be voted on in the Senate. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades, Haitian TPS holders have offered stability, dignity, and security to so many,\u201d Markey told the Globe, \u201cand they deserve the same in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at giulia.mcdnr@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her @giuliamcdnr<\/a>.<\/p>\n