President Donald Trump's attack on Haitians living in the U.S. could devastate the elder care system — and his adopted home state of Florida could be especially vulnerable, a legal expert warned.
Per Christopher Rowland of The Washington Post, the Supreme Court is considering "a fight over the Trump administration’s effort to strip 353,000 Haitian immigrants of temporary protected status, which the U.S. grants to people fleeing conflict or natural disasters in other countries."
TPS was granted to Haitians in 2010 "after a devastating earthquake in the Caribbean nation," noted the report, but "Trump administration now argues conditions in Haiti are safe enough for their return, while advocates say gang warfare and civil strife pose ongoing dangers and they should not be forced to leave the U.S."
Additionally, the article reported, nursing homes would be among the hardest industries hit if the court sides with Trump: "The nursing home industry relies heavily on immigrant labor across the country. It faces enormous challenges keeping people in these low-wage, difficult jobs, and its staffing reached crisis proportions during the coronavirus pandemic." Currently, some 130,000 Haitians serve as health care workers, with a large number of them specialized in elder care.
In other words, wrote American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick on X, "If Trump gets his way and the Supreme Court blesses the pretextual termination of Haitian TPS, tens of thousands of elderly Americans across the country will suddenly lose their caretakers ... especially in Florida," a state famous as a retirement destination for elderly people from New York and the Midwest.
"In 2021, Haiti’s president was assassinated by a team of Colombian and American mercenaries, plunging it into crisis. Gangs seized control of portions of the capital Port-au-Prince as civil governance collapsed. Mayorkas designated TPS one month later. The crisis isn’t over," Reichlin-Melnick continued. Furthermore, "As Baby Boomers age, healthcare jobs are rising faster than workers who want those jobs. Salaries are rising too, but by 2028 it's predicted we'll be short 100,000 workers for healthcare jobs. Fire tens of thousands, and yes, people will go without care."
Trump has a long history of racist attacks on Haitians and Haitian-Americans, most famously promoting baseless allegations during the 2024 presidential debates that Haitian workers in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's pet dogs and cats.