President Trump’s “immigration crackdown” has elicited a warning from the direct care industry: immigrants are essential.
Although immigrants comprise 17% of the total
American labor force, they make up 31% of the home care workforce and 21%
of the residential care aide and nursing assistant workforce, according to
a 2024
report from Leading Age, an organization representing nonprofit aging
services providers.
A recent article
by USA TODAY highlights the severity and scope of the direct care worker
shortage, which is set to reach critical levels as the US faces even higher
demand to care for aging Baby Boomers.
In 2020, 55.8 million people in the US were
65 and over, according
to census data. A
study in Health Services Research estimates that number will reach nearly
70 million by 2030.
From 2022 to 2037, a National
Center for Health Workforce Analysis estimated the demand for home
health aides will rise 35%, the demand for personal care aides will rise
38%, and the demand for nursing assistants will rise 41%.
Articles by Axios
and AP
News echo the essentiality of immigrant caregivers in US nursing homes, and
warn of the effect President Trump’s immigration policies are already having on
nursing home staffing in the US.
AP
News reports:
“The aging of the
massive Baby Boom generation is poised to fuel even more demand for caregivers,
both in institutional settings and in individuals’ homes. BLS projects more
growth among home health and personal care aides than any other job, with some
820,000 new positions added by 2032.”
Due to high demand and Department of State
backlogs, immigrant nursing aides who qualify for a Green Card are currently
waiting more than three years to enter the U.S. after their cases are approved.
Because of lengthy backlogs, staffing
companies employing nursing assistants and nurse aides are best equipped to
withstand immigration delays in their business models; however, meeting the demand
for direct caregiving in the US in the coming years will require policies to
extend temporary work authorization for direct care workers and policies to
alleviate Department of State backlogs for permanent immigration solutions.
