In the Globe: How Executive Orders on Immigration Could Impact Elder Care in MA

“In Massachusetts, I live in peace. I’m not afraid.” 

That is what a Catholic Charities client named Erna told The Boston Globe this week in a story highlighting how mass deportations would threaten care for the elderly in Massachusetts. Erna fled armed gangs after they seized her home in Haiti two years ago. She trained as a nursing assistant at Catholic Charities and now works as a nurse aide in an assisted living residence in Greater Boston, one of thousands of immigrants helping to reduce the critical shortage of healthcare workers in Massachusetts.

Boston Globe reporter Kay Lazar highlighted the impact that the new administration’s executive orders on immigration could have on senior citizens living in nursing homes and elder care facilities across the state. “In Massachusetts nursing homes alone, 40 percent of the front-line staff are immigrants, many from Haiti. They include nursing assistants, licensed nurses, and those working in housekeeping and dining services.” 

Read the full Globe story here.