Nurses, healthcare workers, community advocates and elected officials gathered outside Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn to protest the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, warning that the loss of Haitian healthcare workers could deepen staffing shortages and ultimately affect patient care.
The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) organized a candlelight vigil and press conference on August 5 at the Borough Park hospital, highlighting the important role Haitian TPS holders play throughout the healthcare system. The union said Haitian immigrants work not only as nurses, but also as medical assistants, technicians, environmental service workers and other healthcare professionals.
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The demonstration came shortly after the federal government moved forward with ending Haiti’s TPS designation. USCIS confirmed that Haiti’s TPS designation was terminated effective July 27, 2026, leaving more than 300,000 Haitian beneficiaries without the protections they had received under the programme.
At Maimonides, nurses said the consequences are already becoming apparent.
Russell Pinsker, a cardiothoracic intensive-care nurse who has worked at the hospital for nine years, told BK Reader that Haitian colleagues are an essential part of the hospital workforce and warned that losing them would make an already difficult staffing situation worse. He described increasing pressure on remaining employees as vacancies grow.
Advocates say the issue extends beyond immigration status and directly affects the ability of hospitals and other healthcare facilities to maintain adequate staffing.
According to figures cited at the Brooklyn demonstration, approximately one in three Haitian TPS holders in the United States works in healthcare. Nationally, healthcare organizations have also warned that ending TPS could worsen shortages in nursing, home healthcare and long-term care, potentially increasing wait times and reducing access to services.
Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, whose district includes Brooklyn’s Little Haiti community in Flatbush, said removing Haitian healthcare workers could increase burnout among remaining staff and compromise the quality of patient care.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso also joined the call for the protections to be restored, arguing that the consequences would not be limited to Haitian families. The loss of workers, he said, could have broader implications for Brooklyn’s healthcare system and the communities that depend on it.
A workforce issue as well as an immigration issue
Haiti was first designated for TPS in 2010 following the devastating earthquake, allowing eligible Haitians already in the United States to remain temporarily and obtain employment authorization. The programme was subsequently extended and redesignated several times as conditions in Haiti remained unstable.
The Trump administration argued that conditions no longer justified continuing the designation. However, critics point to Haiti’s continuing security and humanitarian crisis, arguing that returning thousands of people to the country could place them at serious risk.
The U.S. government’s own travel advisory currently warns Americans against traveling to Haiti because of crime, kidnapping, civil unrest and other security threats, adding to concerns raised by advocates about the consequences of deportations.
For Brooklyn’s healthcare sector, however, the immediate concern is staffing.
NYSNA said its members recognize that immigrant workers are integral to keeping hospitals functioning, particularly at a time when facilities are already struggling to recruit and retain enough healthcare professionals. The union has warned that removing experienced workers could increase workloads for existing employees and place additional strain on patient services.
The protest therefore framed the fight over Haitian TPS as more than an immigration debate. For the nurses and community leaders gathered outside Maimonides, it is also a question of who will care for Brooklyn’s patients if experienced healthcare workers are forced out of the workforce.
As Haitian TPS holders face an increasingly uncertain future, healthcare advocates are urging federal lawmakers to reconsider the termination, warning that the consequences could extend from immigrant households into hospitals, nursing facilities and communities across New York.
