1199SEIU members rally outside of Lenox Hill Hospital in support of immigrant healthcare workers on Sept. 24. (Credit: Mika Travis)
Healthcare workers in New York City and across the U.S. held rallies on Sept. 24 to support their immigrant colleagues, and warned that the Trump administration’s moves to remove noncitizens are causing staff shortages that are already affecting patient care.
The recent revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and 12 other countries has forced hospitals and nursing homes across the country to put on leave or fire workers in compliance with federal law. Some 600 members of 1199SEIU, the largest healthcare union in New York, have been put on leave—most of them Haitian immigrants, the union told Labor New York.
These members are not being paid, although the union has pushed to ensure that most workers were put on leave and not fired, so they can return to their jobs if Congress reinstates TPS.
Trump has taken steps to end TPS for people from 13 countries, including about 5,400 Haitians in New York City. Haiti was granted TPS in 2010 after an earthquake struck the country and the status has been regularly renewed amid ongoing issues such as storms, cholera outbreaks, and gang violence.
“They came here and then decided to do a very noble job, which is helping take care of others,” said Miguel Fernandez, a histology technician at Lenox Hill Hospital, part of the Northwell Health system. “You’re taking away the American dream from people who are working for it and doing it by trying to help others. They’re literally giving back to a community and then being pulled away from it.”
Three workers at Lenox Hill Hospital were “let go,” and around 39 1199SEIU members overall in the Northwell Health system were “let go,” said 1199SEIU Vice President Danielle Ringgold.
Rallies took place outside hospitals and nursing homes in New York City on Sept. 24, according to the union, including Maimonides Medical Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, and Montefiore Wakefield. Spokespeople at these hospitals did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the unions’ statements about staffing shortages.
The rallies were part of a national “Days of Action” initiative that was spearheaded by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, a human-rights nonprofit. Similar events took place across the country between Sept. 24 and 27, including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and Washington D.C.
The loss of TPS workers has strained an already understaffed healthcare system, said the Committee of Interns and Residents, a union for postgraduate medical trainees in hospitals, 1199SEIU, and the New York State Nurses Association. Those shortages have hit physicians, nurses and EMTs, the unions said.
“We are watching experienced nurses, aides and technicians forced out of jobs they have done well for years, and patients across New York City are paying the price with longer waits and less attention at the bedside,” said City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, who is a Haitian immigrant and registered nurse, in a statement to Columbia News Service. Narcisse joined advocates at City Hall on Sept. 24 to support the workers.
Nearly 90% of nursing homes in the United States are understaffed, according to a recent analysis of federal data conducted by the Long Term Care Community Coalition, a New York-based nonprofit focused on the quality of care in such facilities. The nonprofit found that New York has one of the country’s “greatest staffing shortfalls.”
“Since TPS ended, facilities are more understaffed, especially our nursing homes. The remaining staff are stretched to the limit,” said Joy Montague, a licensed practical nurse from the Bronx, in a speech at City Hall on Sept. 24. “We are dealing with burnout, emotional stress, physical stress on our bodies at a time when healthcare is declining.”
The nationwide rallies were a call for Congress to pass a Senate bill to extend TPS for Haitians through 2029. The bill was introduced by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., and now has 43 co-sponsors, a group that includes Democrats and Independents.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a press release in August that the city is forced to comply with federal law, and that only President Donald Trump would have the ability to restore TPS or to shield former TPS holders from deportation.
The mayor said this week that he spoke with Trump about “how critical this is for New Yorkers,” including those in the healthcare industry.
About the author(s)
Mika Travis is a reporter and M.S. candidate at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism.