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Massachusetts senior housing faces staffing risk as Haitian TPS deportations move
The Supreme Court’s June decision to end TPS and a district court order could accelerate deportations of about 2,000 Haitian employees in Massachusetts senior care facilities.
Massachusetts senior housing is bracing for a potential staffing hit as federal deportation steps move forward for Haitian immigrants with Temporary Protected Status, a labor force that operators say is central to filling roles at senior care facilities. Bisnow reports that about 2,000 employees in Massachusetts senior care facilities are Haitian immigrants in the U.S. under TPS, and that a district court judge signed an order allowing the Trump administration to proceed with deporting them after SCOTUS in June allowed the administration to terminate the status.
The outlet notes that Massachusetts has roughly 45,000 Haitian TPS holders, the third-largest group in the country after New York and Florida. Local officials and business leaders have warned that removing the workers could worsen existing staffing shortages as demand rises with the retirement of baby boomers and increased development of new senior facilities.
Bisnow also cites concerns from operators about how quickly they can replace the lost labor. HYM Investment Group Chief Investment Officer Doug Manz said operators are hiring at a large scale, characterizing Haitian workers as a core component in Greater Boston, with knock-on impacts beyond the senior housing sector.
The story adds broader TPS context, including that as of March 2025 there are 1.3 million TPS holders in the U.S. from 17 countries, with more than 330,000 Haitian nationals contributing an estimated $5.9 billion annually. It also says TPS holders represent 15% of all noncitizen healthcare workers, while immigrants make up 24% of workers in the residential care setting, such as assisted living.