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<\/a><\/p>\nA staff member assists a resident of the Sinai Residences in Boca Raton, Florida, on June 6, 2025. (Saul Martinez for The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThat reminds me of Anne Frank,\u201d Rachel Blumberg, president and CEO of the center, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. \u201cThere\u2019s a kindred bond between our residents being Jewish and seeing the place that the Haitians have gone through.\u201d<\/p>\n
The seniors were aware of something that is only beginning to dawn on the rest of the country: that in addition to the aggressive immigration enforcement operations underway in Minnesota and elsewhere, the Trump administration has moved to cancel Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from a handful of countries once deemed too unsafe to return to.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, a judge paused the end of TPS for Venezuelans. But barring any 11th-hour changes, about 350,000 Haitians will lose their status on Tuesday \u2014 ending their right to live and work in the United States legally and putting them at risk of immediate detention and deportation.<\/p>\n
The deadline has sent waves of panic through communities with many Haitian immigrants, including in Ohio \u2014 where the Trump team took aim at Haitians in 2024 \u2014 and in South Florida.<\/p>\n
While the effects will be sharpest for the immigrants themselves, the end of TPS for Haitians is sure to have a ripple effect. At Sinai Residences, for example, 9% of staff members are Haitians with TPS, and they won\u2019t be able to work after Tuesday. (In total, 69% of the center\u2019s staff are foreign-born; caregiving industries are heavily dependent on immigrant workers.)<\/p>\n
To make up for the expected losses, the center is redoubling its hiring efforts. Representatives from other Jewish senior living homes say they will need to turn to temp agencies, suggesting a growing inconsistency in senior care. Whatever happens, residents are likely to see their own costs go up as a worker shortage is exacerbated.<\/p>\n
But the blows will be felt in other ways, too. Seniors in long-term care facilities develop deep bonds with their staff. Blumberg\u2019s residents, she said, \u201ccan relate to not being wanted, to being kicked out and coming to America for salvage and freedom and safety and shelter. And they want to be able to protect the Haitians.\u201d <\/p>\n
Temporary protected status for Haitians and similar communities dates back to the Reagan administration. Because it was offered by executive action, it can be undone without congressional approval. <\/p>\n
\u201cTemporary means temporary,\u201d Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said about the administration\u2019s decision to end the status. Late Wednesday a federal judge ruled that Noem had exceeded her authority by ending the status, but additional court intervention would be needed before Wednesday to delay or deter the action.<\/p>\n
With a rapidly aging American population, experts say, the country\u2019s seniors will especially feel the effects of restricting immigrant laborers. The policy, to those who come face to face with the workers and those they serve every day, makes no sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a workforce filled with people who weathered COVID in a nursing home. This is no small thing. And now you\u2019re saying they don\u2019t deserve to be in this country? I don\u2019t think so,\u201d one Jewish senior living director, who requested anonymity so as not to draw attention to the center and its workers, told JTA. \u201cThere will be no caregivers in this country if our isolationist policies are all enforced.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some argue that Jews, especially, should be attuned to these dynamics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jewish community employs these populations to care for the most vulnerable among us. And it creates major challenges,\u201d said Reuben Rotman, president and CEO of the Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies. Many Jewish social services agencies also serve immigrants as clients, he noted: \u201cThis is part of our Jewish identity and ethos, to serve our full community with Jewish values and welcoming the stranger. So this is all connected.\u201d<\/p>\n