Healthcare jobs can go to American workers — don’t reverse the TPS decision

I keep hearing that ending Temporary Protected Status will devastate our healthcare and elder-care workforce. I’m not buying it, and I hope you won’t either.

The jobs people are worried about — nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal care aides — are jobs Americans are ready and willing to do. The problem has never been a lack of American workers; it’s a lack of fair pay. These positions pay less than entry-level retail work in all 50 states, and that’s precisely because some employers would rather rely on lower-cost foreign labor than raise wages and hire the Americans who are looking for work.

And plenty of Americans are looking. Labor force participation has dropped to its lowest point since 2021, and millions who want a job aren’t even counted in the headline unemployment rate. When care employers actually raise wages, the so-called shortage eases and turnover falls. Higher pay would provide the obvious solution — and it would go to American families instead of being undercut by imported labor.

The Supreme Court has spoken, and I urge you to let that decision stand and reject any attempt to extend or lock in these temporary designations. Thank you for working to build an immigration system and a labor market that finally works for the American people.

Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA

Sent to:
Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, Jay Obernolte