Nursing homes struggle to recruit staff as Trump attacks sources of immigrant workers

Elderly and disabled facilities report the intermittent loss of employees who have received their legal status by Trump. But they are afraid that the most dramatic effects in the future, as potential workers ’pipelines slow down a comprehensive contraction in legal immigration.

“We feel completely beating,” says Dick Kato, CEO of AG Rhodes, who runs three elderly care homes in the Atlanta region, with a third of the employees consisting of people born abroad. “The pipeline becomes smaller and smaller.”

Eight Cateau workers are expected to leave after their temporary protected position, or TPS. TPS allows people who already live in the United States to survive and work legally if their original countries are unsafe due to civil disturbances or natural disasters and during the Biden administration, this appointment was expanded to cover people from dozens of countries, including large numbers of Venezuela and Haiti.

While those who suffer from TPS represent a small minority of AG Rhodes’ 500, Cateau says they will be “very difficult, if not impossible, to solve” and worry what comes after that.

“He may be eight years old today, but who knows what the way will be,” says Kato, a migrant himself, who arrived from Trinidad and Tobago 25 years ago.

Almost one in every five civilian workers in the United States is born foreign, according to the Labor Statistics Office, but as in construction, agriculture and manufacturing, migrants are excessively represented in the roles of providing care. More than a quarter of an estimated 4 million nursing assistants, home health assistants, personal care assistants and other direct care workers born, according to Phi, a non -profit organization focuses on the workforce in providing care.

The old age of children is preparing to calm more demand for caregivers, whether in institutional environments or in individuals ’homes. BLS balances more growth among home health assistants and personal care assistants more than any other job, with the addition of about 820,000 new jobs by 2032.

The role of caring for the elderly and living facilities with the help of home health agencies and other companies relied on immigrants to fill many of these roles, so Trump’s return to the White House and his administration attack on almost all forms of immigration has sent the cold throughout the industry.

Katie Smith Sloan, CEO of Lideingage, who represents non -profit care facilities, says homes throughout the country were affected by immigration. Some have reported the employees who stopped coming to work, for fear of the raid, although they are in the country legally. Others have workers residing at home with children who kept out of school because they are concerned about tours. Many others see the slowdown in jobs.

“This is similar to the punch in the intestine,” she says.

Rachel Bloomberg, CEO of The Toby and Leon Cooperman Sinai Residenches in Boca Raton, Florida, has already 10 workers who were approved to stay in the United States for a program known as the human condition of humanitarian release, which was granted to people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. It is scheduled to lose 30 others in the coming weeks with the end of TPS for Haitiin.

“I think this is the tip of the iceberg,” says Bloomberg.

Blumberg got a notice less than 24 hours when its employees lost their work, which led to a stampede to fill the transformations. She has already strengthened salaries and referral rewards, but she says it will be difficult to replace not only aide, but maintenance workers, dishwashers and servers.

“Unfortunately, Americans are not attracted to applying and working in the situations we have available,” she says.

Female frontal careers with an overwhelming majority and a majority of members of minority groups, according to Phi, were only $ 16.72 in 2023.

The long -term care role has seen the migration of workers as Covid made a workplace already more challenging. Some facilities have begun to see an employment of normalization to prenatal levels as it happened in the immigration campaign, although the industry is at the level of industry, there is still a significant shortage of workers.

Some of the industry watched frustration because Trump regretted how companies, including agriculture and hospitality from its policies, are wondering why those who clean hotel rooms or choose tomatoes with greater attention than those who are interested in the elders. In addition to the temptation of work licenses for people living in the United States, care homes face difficulty in obtaining approved visas for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses that they recruit abroad.

Mark Sanchez, CEO of Operations at United Hepro, a nursing house in New Rocheil, New York, says what it used to be a simple operation that has now extended for a long time until the candidates are completely reviewing the United States.

“There are lines on lines on lines,” Sanchez says, and now they say, “I will go to Canada” and “I will go to Germany and they welcome me with open arms.

When looking around a facility with majority immigrant employees, the son of the Filipino immigrants ask where his recruits will come in the future.

“I have no snow coming in my house and took my people, but the pipeline that was flowing before is now in the grades and pioneers,” Sanchez says.

Long -term care workers are routinely seduced not only by hospitals and doctors ’offices, but restaurants, stores and factories. Half of the average nursing house employees advance each year, according to federal data, which makes the attractiveness of each employee vital in its operation.

Robin and Linburg began the leadership of Wisconsin to put a flow from people from Afghanistan after the United States withdrew its last forces four years ago and thousands of refugees arrived in its mandate. Care homes began to employ refugees and were very pleased with them, and some facilities began to employ refugees who arrived from Ukraine, Somalia and the Congo. Although many homes have about 30 % retaining rates, Wolzenburg said the number was above 90 % with refugees.

Trump has stopped most of the refugee admission operations, which means that the successful awareness program in Wolzenburg does not have new expatriates to target.

“It was really destroyed,” says Lzenburg. “Our societies that were actively working with resettlement agencies do not see these referrals on long -term care as we were. There are no refugees.”

Lin Katman, Juniper Communities Foundation, which runs 21 facilities across five states, says it is difficult to find the right workers with passion for the elderly. Now, just as homes flow for the population flowing from the country’s demographic transformation, they face another challenge to stable labor forces.

“Work is difficult. It hasn’t always been the highest job that one can get,” she says. “But many immigrants who have already chosen this work consider care for a noble profession.”