Witness Testimony During the Congressional Field Hearing on Haitian Tps Termination

Floor Speech

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Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, as part of the Congressional Field Hearing on Haitian TPS Termination held in the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, witnesses from the community were invited to discuss the importance of extending TPS for Haitian nationals. Therefore, I include in the Record their testimonies:

To the Honorable Congresswoman Pressley, Senator Markey, and other participating members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation,

Thank you for receiving this testimony in support of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. I am a primary care physician at the MGB Chelsea Community Health Center in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where I care for adults and children. I also serve as Associate Medical Director for Internal Medicine for the MGH Center for Immigrant Health and as faculty at Harvard Medical School. I write this testimony in my individual capacity and my views do not necessarily reflect those of my employers.

Securing the ongoing designation of TPS for Haitians is critical for the health of all people in our Commonwealth. We know that Haitian health care workers make up a huge percentage of our health care workforce, particularly in entry-level jobs like home health aides, certified nursing assistants, and nursing home staff, which have already been facing critical staffing shortages. As the population ages, these shortages will become even more pronounced. Already, nearly half of US nursing homes report they've had to limit admissions because of staffing shortages and only 19% currently meet the minimum staffing levels that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have mandated these facilities achieve by 2029. I myself have encountered challenges with my own patients--some have lingered on inpatient units for extra days waiting for a rehab facility to have a bed available. Others have reported feeling rushed out of the rehab facilities before they were ready-- potentially a result of the high demand and backlog of bed availability.

These problems will only get worse with the end of TPS for Haitians. Across the US, approximately 3.9% of immigrant healthcare workers, and 1.7% of all home health aides in the US are from Haiti. The Massachusetts Senior Care Association, which presents nearly 400 nursing and rehab facilities across the Commonwealth, estimates that 2,000 caregivers at their facilities will be affected with the ending of TPS. In our hospital system, many of our colleagues will likely be dismissed once they lose the work permits that have been tied to TPS status. This hurts all of us--our patients, our hospital system, and, of course, our impacted colleagues and their families.

In addition to the impact on the healthcare labor force, there are many additional health impacts that are expected to come because of TPS termination for Haitians. Many Haitian TPS-holders express a fear for their lives if they were to return to Haiti. Furthermore, the Haitian health care system, despite the valiant efforts of brave healthcare workers, is in shambles and many facilities have been forced to close. Patients I have cared for with complex medical issues, that rely on daily medication or regular treatments for their well-being, will most likely be forced to forego care. That is, if they survive the tragic violence engulfing the country.

For those who evade deportation and are forced to live undocumented in the US, the stress of living with fear of detention and deportation is known to increase risks for anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical health symptoms. These health impacts extend to family members and citizen children, and can be exacerbated if families avoid seeking social services and health care for which their children are eligible, out of fear of deportation. I have already been seeing the impact of this fear on Haitian immigrants I care for in the community. The fear can be disabling. Naturally, the impacts on citizen children are even more severe if the child is separated from their caregiver through detention and deportation. Multiple studies demonstrated that children who are experience this type of family separation suffer increased rates of mental health disorders, developmental delays, and long-term health problems. I have witnessed these impacts in my own patients who have had parents deported.

Of course, the main reason TPS for Haitians should be extended is because it's simply the right thing to do, given the extreme violence and instability Haiti is experiencing right now (and, not to forget, the US's role in fomenting that instability over the years). Our Haitian neighbors, like all people, deserve to live with dignity, peace, and freedom. That is what allows people to not only be healthy, but to thrive, and to contribute to our Commonwealth in countless ways.

In addition, it's important to consider the impacts that ending TPS for Haiti will have on population health, health care workforce, and impacted families and communities in Massachusetts, as I have discussed above. At the very least, if TPS is ultimately revoked this February 3rd, we must think creatively about ways to support impacted families so that their livelihoods, well-being, and health can still be supported within our communities. Sincerely, Juliana E. Morris, MD, EdM __________

My name is Colin O'Leary, I am the Executive Director at Laurel Ridge Rehab and Skilled Care around the corner in Jamaica Plain and I want to thank you for your time this morning. Laurel Ridge is a not for profit nursing home and is a part of the Ascentria Care Alliance, a not for profit, mission driven organization that has been around for over 150 years.

As a Skilled Nursing Center we rely on a large labor force to care for our residents. Throughout COVID many of these positions sat vacant as undesirable jobs or careers. Over the past few years we have been able to slowly regrow our workforce and we are not in a healthy, albeit precarious, staffing position.

Now, I am looking at losing 40% of my dietary aids and more concerningly 15% of my CNA workforce, some who have been at my facility for over 4 years, to lost employment authorizations. CNAs are the backbone of our industry. They care for our residents' most basic needs, personal care, grooming, toileting, feeding. These are not jobs that can be easily filled, and require a personal relationship between the staff and the residents that are forged over months and years together. When these relationships are lost the residents suffer.

A staffing shortage like this creates a domino effect that will impact resident care for the foreseeable future. This begins with the largely unknown ripples of this sudden change in the labor force. It is clear that we have relied on TPS employees to fill the CNA labor pool across the state, what is unclear now is how the sudden drop of CNAs across the state will impact our ability to fill these suddenly vacant positions. Unlike COVID however this is not a problem that is easily solved. Instead of a suddenly voluntary departure from the workforce in this case we are shrinking the workforce.

Unfortunately, when there is a limited pool of CNAs healthcare facilities are forced to compete with one another for the limited staff that is available. This causes healthcare facilities, like mine, to pay over market rate for CNAs, use overtime, pickup bonuses, and find other ways to lure staff to work for the facility.

Please, don't get me wrong, I think that throughout the COVID epidemic as an industry we were able to give our staffs well deserved raises this time however, we will not have the Medicare, Medicaid, and bailout money to fund these raises. Now, we are looking at cutting programing, reducing expenses, and limiting capital investment (much of which comes in the form of deferred maintenance that occurred during the pandemic crunch.) Inevitably it seems that we are going to end up spending more money to provide less care to our residents. If we are not able to pivot and find replacement workers this will lead to nursing home closing and hospitals being stuck with the overflow, people being sent home from the hospital without much needed rehab, and residents not being able to get the care they need with the dignity they deserve.

We have a group of people who have become part of our community and want to give care to our family and neighbors. It is devastating that I will have to turn these valuable caretakers away. __________ ENRIQUE PEPEN, BOSTON CITY COUNCILOR DISTRICT 5

On January 20th, my team attended the congressional field hearing hosted by Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Markey regarding the pending termination of Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The hearing was hosted in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood, the largest Haitian community in Massachusetts. Thanks to TPS, close to 50,000 Haitian people have become a part of Massachusetts as our neighbors, friends, and family. That is 50,000 members of our community serving in essential positions in health care, transportation, law, education, and other businesses. With TPS at risk, these vital members of our community stand to lose all they have worked hard to build, and we stand to lose all they have contributed to our Commonwealth.

The Trump Administration's decision through the Department of Homeland Security to terminate TPS places thousands of Haitian families at risk of separation from their loved ones, their communities, and the places they have called and made home. Stripping TPS forces many to return to a country that is currently facing extreme humanitarian and security concerns that no one should have to endure such as widespread gun violence, political instability, and larger crumbling infrastructure. The Trump Administration has taken the position that conditions in Haiti have improved, a conclusion that goes against Trump's own Department of State that has advised zero travel of any kind to Haiti. How can we in good conscience force this part of our community to return to a place we have deemed unsafe?

The termination of TPS eliminates essential safeguards such as protection from deportation, legal status, and the ability to work. For years, these measures have enabled Haitian families in my district to build stable lives, strengthen the local economy, and care for their loved ones. Massachusetts stands to suffer a massive blow to our economy and essential services should the Trump administration's efforts succeed. Ending TPS now worsens an ongoing humanitarian crisis and exposes already vulnerable families to greater danger.

I urge serious consideration of the devastating consequences this decision will have on our communities. Rather than terrorizing an already vulnerable mass of people, the Trump administration should acknowledge the incredible contributions these individuals have made and create a path to citizenship for the hardworking and beloved TPS holders in our nation. __________

Statement on the Importance of Maintaining Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Jacky Poteau, Brockton, Massachusetts

Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals is not only a humanitarian necessity--it is a matter of economic stability and public well-being for Massachusetts. The Commonwealth is home to an estimated 75,000-90,000 residents of Haitian descent, with significant concentrations in Boston, Brockton, Mattapan, Cambridge, Everett, and Springfield. Thousands of these residents rely on TPS to live and work lawfully, care for their families, and contribute to the state's economy.

Haitian TPS holders are disproportionately represented in essential sectors. In Massachusetts, immigrants comprise nearly 30 percent of the healthcare workforce, including home health aides, nursing assistants, and support staff in hospitals and long-term care facilities. Haitian and other TPS holders also play critical roles in public transportation, construction, food services, childcare, and elder care--industries already experiencing severe labor shortages. Nationally, TPS holders contribute an estimated $6.9 billion annually in wages and $1.6 billion in state and local taxes, strengthening local economies and tax bases.

Behind these numbers are families and human lives. Many Haitian TPS holders have lived in Massachusetts for over a decade. They are parents of U.S.-citizen children, homeowners, church leaders, and small-business owners. Terminating TPS would strip work authorization from law- abiding residents, destabilize families, increase housing insecurity, and place U.S.-citizen children at risk of long- term trauma and poverty.

At the same time, Haiti remains in a state of profound crisis. Escalating gang violence, mass displacement, food insecurity, and the collapse of healthcare and public institutions make safe return impossible. Ending TPS under these conditions would contradict both the statutory intent of the TPS program and fundamental humanitarian principles.

We urge Congress and the Administration to extend and redesignate Haitian TPS. This decision is lawful, economically prudent, and deeply humane--and it affirms the dignity and indispensable contributions of the Haitian community in Massachusetts. __________

My name is Reina Reyes, resident of East Boston. I appreciate the opportunity to present my testimony to Congresswoman Ayanna Presley and Senator Ed Markey.

During the crisis at Terminal ``E'' of Logan International Airport, I had the privilege of collaborating with the Haitian community. I was not the only one to participate; various organizations, churches, institutions and members of the community came together to address the serious humanitarian crisis faced by our Haitian brothers and sisters, a crisis that persists and is characterized by the displacement of their country of origin. This situation is the result of a legacy of Colonialism and an interaction of internal armed conflicts, institutional collapse, natural disasters and extreme socioeconomic conditions, which has forced them to emigrate not only to the United States of America, but also to several Latin American countries.

Through this experience, I was able to understand firsthand that, like many of us, immigrants from other countries are looking for opportunities to improve our lives, those of their families and those of this nation. There are numerous factors that drive us to emigrate to this great nation, where we begin to develop a sense of belonging.

I have had the privilege of meeting numerous highly trained Haitian women, selfless mothers committed to the education of their children, as well as men who practice various professions, such as plumbing, masonry, accounting, teaching, agricultural work, electricity, construction, textile and other industries. I have heard many of them express their desire to work hard to get their families ahead and provide them with a promising future. I have also met young people who, although they miss their small island, have aspirations to study, work and, eventually, return to contribute to the development of their homeland. Both young people and adults are deeply affected by sadness, but they are willing to fight once their immigration status is regularized. Who has the right to undermine the scarce peace they are trying to build in this great nation, which has always been benevolent and balanced between its humanitarian commitments? Therefore, it is imperative to maintain Temporary Protection Status (TPS) and refugee status, ensuring that they continue to be a humanitarian protection that confers clear rights and obligations. Maintaining TPS, asylum and other status is a matter of humanity and a fundamental right . . .

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