This is happening. We aren't talking about people who are in the country illegally. We aren't talking about criminals. Here we're talking about rule-abiding documented workers performing critical care roles having their work authorization revoked. I have also heard this happening to some employees in child care centers. Again, these are documented, background-checked, trained, law abiding care workers.
We received a notice from the Department of Homeland Security. Work permits for thousands of currently legal employees—many under a humanitarian program—are being revoked and we will be informed which of our employees are impacted. We will of course comply with the law. But this just makes no sense. This isn’t removing immigrants with criminal backgrounds. This is cancelling work authorizations for thousands of documented workers—some number of them professional caregivers—who our older adults need. We hire every qualified person we can find because the need is immense. There is a substantial shortage of home care workers, now the largest workforce in the United States, but also one of the fastest growing because our population is aging so quickly. We hire for skill, client compatibility and demand we need to fill. To revoke legal work authorizations from those caring for our aging population—when the workforce is already struggling to keep up with demand—is deeply counterproductive. It will leave older adults without people they know, trust and rely on. It will drive up the cost of care. The goal should be to increase access to care—not reduce it. Other countries are actively encouraging immigration to solve their own caregiving needs: → Japan is welcoming hundreds of thousands of elderly care workers through their Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) visa. → Singapore is training and placing domestic workers specifically for elder support through their Eldercarer Foreign Domestic Worker Scheme. → New Zealand has a Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa, which allows migrant care workers to obtain residency after two years of working in an eligible role. The country welcomes care professionals in aged care, disability support, and home healthcare. → Denmark is actively welcoming foreign workers to help fill elder care labor shortages, with many institutions and municipalities now offering visa sponsorship to qualified international candidates. In the US? The government seems to be taking the tact of removing broad work authorizations without considering the impact with the necessary level of nuance. From people farming our fields to provide our food, to caring for our elderly, we live in a large and complicated society. To broadly remove all immigrants under established programs rather than the more reasonable concept of attempting to specifically remove immigrants with significant criminal histories—is simply too blunt an instrument. There are critical needs we must fulfill as a society and there simply are not enough people in the United States to fill all of these jobs. This isn’t about politics—it’s about protecting the caregiving infrastructure millions of families rely on. If we want older adults to receive dignified care—and if we want families to afford it—we need labor policies that protect and grow the caregiving workforce, not shrink it.
The comparison with Japan, Singapore, and Denmark is eye-opening—we should be learning from these models, not pushing caregivers out. Sara Mauskopf
Scary , how fast the country seems to be losing the essence that made USA, USA
Anger. And it keeps getting worse.
The administration is not only amoral and grossly incompetent, it is evil!! Anything to destabilize our nation, socially and politically, for their personal gain and weakening of our nation. Resist, reject and repel!! We the people.
Have you sent this perspective to your representatives and the White House? Sounds valid.
Fractional Product Exec | Helping startups unlock product-market-fit & break through growth plateaus | Ex-LinkedIn, Twitter, Google
3wthis is disturbing and also just completely senseless. the need for elder care is growing as population ages and fewer young adults choose this line of work. bringing in skilled immigrants is the *only* scaleable solution to this as Seth points out in his examples of other countries. I can only hope these misguided policies are not being enacted through laws but by executive orders so they can be easily reversed by a more common sense administration (of either party!)