NYSNA Holds Maimonides Vigil to Protest Healthcare Shortages Caused by End of TPS for Haitian Immigrants

New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses held a vigil at Maimonides Medical Center Wednesday protesting the Trump Administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 350,000 Haitian immigrants in the United States, leaving them vulnerable to increased enforcement activity and subject to deportation. NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, BSN, RN, CCRN, called the move an attack on healthcare that has already had a chilling effect on workers and begun to create massive shortages in healthcare facilities, disrupting care in and around New York City. Nurses and other speakers including NYC CLC Secretary-Treasurer Janella T. Hinds also called for immediate federal action to reverse the termination and renew work authorizations.  

“Six years ago, we stood here demanding the recognition and safe staffing healthcare workers deserved during a global pandemic. Today, we're back because our hospitals are once again facing staffing shortages—this time because the federal government has chosen to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Haitian immigrants,” said Hagans. “When healthcare workers live in fear of going to work, patient care suffers. This is more than an immigration issue; it’s an issue of public health.” Read more here.

President Hagans and NYC CLC President Brendan Griffith also issued a joint statement this week condemning the termination of TPS as an attack on workers, families, and the communities they've spent years helping to build. Read the full statement here and on Facebook, Instagram, and X.