NYSNA Nurses Show Solidarity with Haitian TPS Holders
On Wednesday, Aug. 5, NYSNA nurses held a candlelight vigil and press conference at Maimonides Medical Center to protest healthcare shortages caused by the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti. The termination, which took effect on July 27, has left more than 300,000 Haitian TPS holders in the United States without legal status, vulnerable to increased enforcement activity and subject to deportation.
Recognizing the impact of the termination and the critical role that immigrants, including Haitian TPS holders, play in holding up our healthcare system – as nurses, medical assistants, techs, environmental workers and more – NYSNA members jumped into action to call attention to the issue, speak out about safe staffing, and show solidarity with the Haitian community.
New York Attorney General Leticia James; New York State Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn; New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; New York City Council Members Mercedes Narcisse, Shahana Hanif, Farah N. Louis and Alexa Aviles; and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso joined the vigil in solidarity with Haitian TPS holders. CNN, ABC 7, BK Reader, the Brooklyn Paper, Crain’s, PIX11, Spectrum NY1 and 1010 WINS covered the vigil.
Already, the termination of TPS for Haiti has had a chilling effect on immigrant communities and Haitian workers across the country and has created understaffing in healthcare facilities, disrupting care in and around New York City. NYSNA is advocating for our directly-impacted members and pushing our employers to work with former TPS holders on solutions. The absence of former TPS holder in our hospitals, nursing homes, and home care settings is already beginning to strain staffing in an already over-burdened healthcare system.
At the vigil, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN said, “Many immigrant healthcare workers are living in fear. Some are afraid to leave their homes because they worry about immigration enforcement. That fear affects hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care agencies across our communities. When healthcare workers live in fear of going to work, patient care suffers. This is more than an immigration issue; it’s an issue of public health.”
NYSNA Nurses Support Immigrant Communities
Immigrants are essential members of our communities, our state and our country. They also play an essential role in our healthcare system, as both healthcare workers and patients. When immigrant patients are afraid to access care, public health suffers; when immigrant healthcare workers are afraid or no longer able to come to work, patient care suffers – for citizens and non-citizens alike.
That’s why NYSNA nurses have been on the frontlines of the fight for immigrant justice and Haitian TPS holders. Earlier this summer, President Hagans joined elected officials, labor allies and community organizations at two rallies, in Manhattan and Queens, in support of Haitian TPS holders. There, advocates called on Congress to take action by passing S.4814, which would redesignate Haiti for TPS. NYSNA also issued a statement condemning the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin v. Doe and the discriminatory targeting of Haitian and Syrian TPS holders.
NYSNA nurses will continue to stand with our immigrant communities, advocate for policies that protect all New Yorkers and push back on an administration that uses immigrant New Yorkers to fan the flames of division. TPS authorization is set to expire soon for several other countries, including El Salvador and Ukraine, and it is likely that the Trump administration will seek to terminate status for even more immigrants who continue to face dangerous conditions in their countries of origin. With nearly 300,000 TPS holders from those two countries combined, there will undoubtedly be an impact on our healthcare systems, our immigrant communities, and our patients.
All New Yorkers deserve access to safe, quality patient care, regardless of immigration status. Nurses’ first duty is care for and advocate for our patients, and NYSNA members will uphold that duty by fighting back against attacks on our immigrant communities and the immigrant nurses and healthcare workers that work alongside us to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy.