Markey, Warren, Pressley Release New Report Warning That Ending Legal Status for Haitian Workers Would Devastate Health Care System

Testimony from organizations representing health care workers reveals workers live in fear of losing legal status, patient families worry about losing committed professionals

National Domestic Workers Alliance reports workers are reducing hours, losing jobs, or leaving care work altogether because of immigration enforcement concerns

Text of Report (PDF)

Washington (May 19. 2026) - Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), released a new investigative report revealing how President Trump's attempts to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti would devastate the health care, elder care, and disability care workforce, harm patients, and hurt communities.

"Our care economy does not run on apps or algorithms, it runs on people. And many of those people are the Haitian TPS holders in our communities. A TPS holder cares for someone's elderly grandparent, feeds and tends to someone's child, and nurses back to health someone's sick loved one," said Senator Markey. "For decades, Haitian TPS holders have offered stability, dignity, and security to so many, and they deserve the same in return."

"If the Trump administration ends legal protections for Haitian workers, everyone will be worse off," said Senator Warren. "The health care system is already strained from significant federal budget cuts, and this cruel decision would put patient care at risk nationwide. We must keep fighting back."

"During her battle with leukemia, my mother Sandy was cared for by Haitian nurses who met her with compassion-oiling her scalp, braiding her hair, and going above and beyond to comfort her before she transitioned. There are tens of thousands of people just like her across America who receive the same essential care from Haitian TPS holders," said Congresswoman Pressley. "This report makes plain the essential role that Haitian TPS holders play in our care economy and communities writ-large, and it's a reminder of why we must do everything possible to extend TPS for Haiti, protect our seniors, and do right by this essential workforce."

"TPS was created to give people fleeing unrest in their home countries a safe place to call home, born out of the American spirit of welcoming immigrants seeking a better life," said Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester. "Across the country, immigrants have started businesses, own property, have given back through faith-based and community organizations and more. Welcoming those who need a safe place to call home is part of who we are as Americans. We'll continue to fight to protect our neighbors."

In February, the lawmakers, along with nearly 60 other members of Congress, wrote to LeadingAge, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Nurses United, MASS Senior Care Association, The Arc of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Nurses Association, SEIU 509, and the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers, asking them to share how the termination of TPS for people from Haiti would affect their staff and patients.

The lawmakers' investigation found that:

• President Trump's attempted termination of TPS would exacerbate health care workforce shortages, causing a significant loss of essential workers nationwide. LeadingAge members reported that "TPS terminations and ongoing uncertainty around immigration status are already constraining access to care and weakening provider capacity … as experienced staff lose work authorization or depart preemptively due to fear and instability."
• Staff shortages caused by the termination of TPS and other Trump administration immigration policies would increase health care wait times, reduce availability of health care services, and endanger patients. One respondent with The Arc of Massachusetts explained that "these workforce losses translate to reduced service availability, program closures, longer waitlists, and disruptions to medical and behavioral supports."
• Terminating Haiti TPS will jeopardize health care providers' ability to provide expert, high-quality care. One home care worker explained that "(s)ome people…have had the same job for 10 years and lose it. And what you lose is the experienced workers. The patients' quality of care goes down as a result."
• The TPS action and other parts of the Trump administration's immigration agenda are undermining health care workers' morale and hurting retention and recruitment. The National Domestic Workers Alliance reported that workers repeatedly referenced "fear" in interviews and described workers reducing hours, losing jobs, or leaving care work altogether because of immigration enforcement concerns.
• The Massachusetts health care sector would be disproportionately impacted by the termination of TPS for Haiti. The Massachusetts Senior Care Association warned that staffing losses resulting from the end of TPS for Haiti could "force some facilities to limit new admissions (of patients) thereby aggravating existing bottlenecks in the broader health care system."

"At precisely a time when the United States needs more health care and elder care providers for its aging population…the Trump Administration is forcing legal, trained care providers out of the workforce," concluded the lawmakers. "(T)he end of Haiti TPS would deepen workforce shortages across aging, disability, home care, and long-term care sectors, endangering some of the most vulnerable patients, including older adults and people with disabilities."

The Trump administration's attempts to terminate TPS for Haiti were blocked by federal courts in February 2026, and the issue is now pending before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced and passed a critical bill in the House to extend TPS for Haiti. The measure now heads to the Senate for consideration.

On April 14, Senator Markey, Congresswoman Pressley, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) led 26 Senators and 157 Representatives in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Miot v. Trump. On March 8, Senator Markey welcomed the D.C. Circuit's ruling blocking the Trump administration from immediately terminating TPS for Haiti.

On February 2, 2026, Senator Markey applauded the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia's decision to pause the Trump administration's termination of TPS for Haiti, which was set to expire on February 3. On January 20, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Pressley held a field hearing at Jubilee Christian Church in Mattapan to highlight the importance of extending Temporary Protected Status for Haiti. The lawmakers heard from panels of individuals, advocates, and community leaders impacted by the Trump administration's decision to end TPS for Haitians. In September, Senator Markey led an amicus brief in Miot v. Trump, when the case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

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