Nursing Homes Fear Losing Licensed Nurses and Cnas as Trump Targets Haitian TPS

(MASSACHUSETTS) – President Trump revoked Temporary Protected Status for approximately 350,000 Haitians, and nursing home leaders say the move threatens a workforce they rely on during a staffing shortage that has already left care stretched thin. The protection is set to expire on February 3, 2026, putting Haitian workers in elder care at risk of losing work authorization and facing deportation.

Massachusetts nursing facilities employ about 4,300 Haitians in jobs that include licensed nurses, certified nursing assistants, laundry workers and food service staff. Those facilities provide round-the-clock care to more than 150,000 residents annually, tying the immigration decision directly to daily operations inside long-term care homes.

Nationally, nursing homes have 1 in 7 direct care positions unfilled because of chronic underfunding. Elder care leaders say ending Temporary Protected Status for Haitians would deepen that gap by removing workers who already hold legal status and who fill shifts in a sector that has struggled for years to recruit and retain staff.

Marva Serotkin, president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Foundation, said eliminating TPS “would undoubtedly make the situation worse and affect our ability to provide quality care.” Her warning reflects a wider concern in elder care that facilities already operating with open positions will have less room to absorb departures if thousands of Haitian workers lose the ability to work.

TPS for Haitians was first granted after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. It was later extended as gang violence worsened after President Moïse’s 2021 assassination, leaving many Haitian nationals in the United States with legal protection from deportation and permission to work while conditions in their home country deteriorated.

Industry leaders say the timing collides with demographic pressure as baby boomers age rapidly and demand for long-term care rises. A labor pool that includes immigrants in bedside care, housekeeping, food service and maintenance has become central to how nursing homes staff around-the-clock operations, especially overnight and weekend shifts that are often hard to fill.

Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, employs 26 Haitian staff members who are losing work permits. The facility’s workforce is 70% foreign-born, making it an example of how deeply elder care providers depend on immigrant labor for jobs ranging from resident care to building support.

One of those workers, Richard, handles trash and maintenance at Sinai. He plans to turn to gig work after his protection ends, but the loss of stable employment also means he must abandon nursing studies because of the cost, closing off a path that could have moved him from a support job into direct patient care.

Sinai residents and leaders described Haitian staff in personal terms as well as operational ones. A 92-year-old resident, Murray Rubin, said the Haitian workers are “like family,” a phrase that captures the familiarity built in long-term care settings where the same staff often help residents eat, bathe, dress and move through each day.

Home care agencies have also reported losses after deportation protections ended, suggesting the disruption is not limited to nursing homes. Elder care employers say the effect ripples across a broader care system that depends on workers who assist older adults in facilities and at home, and who may now be pushed out of legal employment.

Maryse Balthazar, a Florida elder care nurse and TPS holder who fled after the 2010 earthquake, said the threat of removal feels “like another earthquake.” She fears separation from her U.S. citizen daughter and worries that her son could be deported to a Haiti controlled by gangs, turning an immigration deadline into a family crisis with immediate consequences.

Advocates say the pressure extends beyond those currently protected. Guerline Jozef, co-founder of Haitian Bridge Alliance, pointed to 150,000 pending TPS applications that are also at risk, while organizers warned of planned ICE raids in Haitian communities including Springfield, Ohio, a city singled out during the 2024 campaign by Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Elder care leaders say the policy creates a blunt choice for workers who had legal permission to stay and work: lose that status, stop working and risk deportation, or remain in the country without authorization. In practical terms, that means facilities lose staff, workers lose income, and residents face a thinner workforce in jobs that require continuity and trust.

Paul Namphy of Family Action Network Movement called the result a “lose, lose, lose.” His warning centered not only on workers in the United States but also on relatives in Haiti who depend on their earnings, linking nursing home staffing in places like Massachusetts and Florida to family support networks that stretch across borders.

Massachusetts providers say the stakes are unusually high because Haitian workers are woven through multiple layers of care. Some serve as nurses and aides at bedsides; others wash linens, prepare food, clean rooms and keep facilities running, work that residents may not always see but that nursing homes need every day and night.

The labor shortage has left little slack. With 1 in 7 direct care positions unfilled nationwide, facilities have few easy replacements if Haitian staff leave, and elder care leaders say fewer workers on the floor can affect how quickly residents are helped, how consistently routines are maintained and how much pressure falls on those who remain.

Legal challenges from groups including Haitian Bridge Alliance are seeking to block the February 3, 2026 deadline. Until those cases are resolved, nursing homes, home care agencies and workers are counting down to a date that could remove thousands of employees from an industry that says it already does not have enough hands.