Trump immigration cuts could worsen US caregiver shortage, experts say

Nine advanced-practice nurse professors from Haiti are in a training program at Regis College. Photograph: Boston Globe/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Nine advanced-practice nurse professors from Haiti are in a training program at Regis College. Photograph: Boston Globe/Getty Images Trump immigration cuts could worsen US caregiver shortage, experts say The loss of protections for Haitian and Syrian workers could worsen shortages of nurses, aides and home care workers The Trump administration may remove the temporary protected status (TPS) of Haitians and Syrians in the US, the US supreme court ruled in late June – a move that will worsen America’s growing caregiver shortage, experts say. The US is now experiencing its fastest increase in the aging population in more than a hundred years, and more than 20% of the US population will be 65 or older by 2030. But the population of caregivers has not grown at the same pace, leading to staffing shortages. Immigrants account for about one in six workers in the US – but they comprise about 30% of caregivers in longterm settings. The caregivers, often nurses and aides in hospitals, facilities, and homes, come from at least 163 countries, and Haitian immigrants are strongly represented at 7% of that workforce, according to a report from LeadingAge, the national association of non-profit and mission driven providers of aging services. “Foreign-born staff are significant contributors to care and services our members provide, and that older adults and their families rely on,” said Lisa Sanders, vice-president of communications and media relations at LeadingAge. “Without staff, there is no care.” View image in fullscreen Jadel Rojas, a recruiter who works for Attending Home Care, helps Analia Polche and Rolkine Seme, both who came to the US from Haiti, to finalize paperwork after qualifying to start training as home health aides on 24 June 2025. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images The US House passed a Haiti TPS extension in April, but the Senate has yet to take action on an extension. Allowing the TPS status of Haitians to expire will further exacerbate the caregiving crisis, as Haitians on temporary status will be forced to stop working as soon as the status expires, said Nixon Pierre-Louis, a Haitian-American citizen who works two jobs as a licensed practical nurse in Delaware. “That’s going to leave the institution or the facility where you work short, and that’s going to affect the resident or the client that you’re taking care of,” Pierre-Louis said. He works with patients who need assistance with daily living – feeding, toileting, bathing. “They depend on you… The clients and the residents are also going to suffer because there is no one to take care of them, and that can also lead to illness and infection.” As Haitians on TPS status are forced to stop working, their duties will fall on already-stressed colleagues, Pierre-Louis said, noting: “It’s just a circle. Not only does it affect re