Trump’s Haitian deportation push threatens US healthcare

Like many Haitian healthcare workers in the US, Rachelle has been forced into hiding by US President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.

“We take care of sick people. We don’t commit any crimes. So why hunt us down like animals?” the New York nurse in her 30s told AFP, speaking under a pseudonym for fear of the authorities.

After years spent caring for sick Americans, Rachelle faces deportation, like hundreds of thousands of her compatriots — which in turn is straining many American hospitals, nursing homes and healthcare facilities that rely on them.

At the end of July, the US government revoked her Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which allowed her to live and work temporarily in the US due to dire conditions in Haiti.

Rachelle’s employer then fired her, and she has stayed home since, fearful of getting detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents if she went outside.

“I wake up every day praying that they’ve changed their minds,” she said of administration officials.

Established after the devastating 2010 earthquake, TPS status was benefitting more than 350,000 Haitians, a third of whom worked in the US healthcare sector when it was revoked, according to estimates.

That’s created “chaos” in a sector already struggling to find enough workers, and degrades patient care, said Nancy Hagans, a nurse who heads a New York City healthcare workers’ union.

Hagans said that in her facility, 21 workers were let go. In a nearby nursing home, hundreds were fired, she said.

“These workers were providing care to the most vulnerable,” she said.

In Florida, home to a large chunk of the Haitian diaspora, two home care agencies have been forced to close, said Denise Bellville, president of an association representing stakeholders in the sector.

While some caregivers continue to work undocumented in homes despite the risk of arrest, most employers have resigned themselves to layoffs, she explained.

Replacing these workers is nearly impossible.

The healthcare sector was already facing a staff shortage and relied heavily on immigrant labour to fill the lowest-paying positions, such as nursing assistants and personal care aides.

“Americans don’t choose that type of job. It’s not their focus,” Bellville said. “They can make more money doing something else” like working in a fast-food restaurant or for Amazon.

The Trump administration has also revoked TPS for other countries such as Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen, and is expected to remove it soon for others like Ukraine, raising the specter of deportation over more than a million immigrants.

All this will have repercussions for Americans, warned Bellville.

“It’s not just the employee who is sent back to their country of origin; it affects all the patients they were caring for,” she said, particularly those receiving home care who could then lose the ability to remain in their own residences.

While some healthcare facilities are trying to retain these caregivers by changing their status, the process is generally very long and expensive, and was made even more complex by the Trump administration.

Rachelle had hoped to begin this lengthy process soon when the axe fell.

“I was devastated,” recalled Rachelle, who is not considering returning to Haiti due to the unstable security situation there.

Also, Rachelle’s son, whom she raises alone, suffers from a neurodevelopmental disorder and needs specialized support that would be impossible for her to obtain otherwise.

Healthcare worker associations, industry stakeholders and local elected officials are urging Congress to reinstate protected status for Haitians.

A bill to this effect was passed in April by the House of Representatives and is now awaiting Senate approval.

“Whether they like it or not, they need us,” Rachelle said, still hoping for a positive outcome.

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