Supporting Haitian Families
September 14, 2026
The ending of TPS protections is a direct assault on healthcare workers and those they serve.
Augustine Fils-Aime, RN, a Haitian American 1199 Delegate working at the Mt Sinai Behavioral Health Center in Lower Manhattan, said:
“I am a first-generation immigrant. My parents came to this country many years ago in search of a better life. Like many Haitian immigrants, my mother was a homecare attendant, and my father was a taxi driver. As Haitians, we are a very proud, hard-working people.”
Speaking to fellow 1199ers at the Delegate Assembly on July 27, she added:
“While our family are now citizens, we have friends who aren’t and are terrified of what the future holds. These are families who own their own homes, who have children who are 6 or 7 years old and are American-born citizens who have never even been to Haiti!”
“As a professional nurse, I also worry deeply about my patients and what it will mean when 50,000 Haitian healthcare workers across the country suddenly lose their ability to work. We already have a critical shortage of healthcare workers, and this is going to make matters even worse,” said Fils-Aime. 【1-702501】
From Florida to New York
From Florida to Massachusetts to New York City, 1199 members have been taking to the streets to protest and highlight the cost of this decision. In recent negotiations with the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes in New York, members negotiated a new Immigration Legal Defense Fund with $2 million available to assist members facing the loss of work authorization. 【1-702501】
Yvonne Armstrong, 1199SEIU President, said:
“Nursing home residents will lose their aides, homecare clients will lose their caregivers, hospital patients will lose trusted and experienced staff. Innocent children and families will be forced out of communities they have grown up in.”
“The vilification of immigrants is one of the oldest tricks in the authoritarian playbook. 1199SEIU stands committed to fighting these injustices, which pit working people against each other and harm all of us. We will continue to organize in defense of our families and neighbors, for our constitutional rights, and in solidarity with immigrant communities.”
Sandra Britto, another 1199 Delegate of Haitian descent who works as a PCT at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Lower Manhattan, described the climate of fear many families are experiencing. 【1-702501】
“People are already afraid to go out of their houses when they hear that ICE is around. They are going to be sending people to Haiti who have nothing there and nobody. They are sending people back to live on the streets.”
“These are working people. They are not criminals. They are people who applied for TPS because they did not want to work in the shadows.”
Margarette Nerette, an 1199 Vice President in Florida, added:
“This partisan Supreme Court has failed our communities again. This decision will have a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of healthcare workers and their families now facing possible deportation to a gravely dangerous situation in Haiti, as well as for many more nursing home patients dependent on their care across the state.”
Supporting Members
1199 is providing weekly virtual workshops that offer accurate, up-to-date information to help affected members understand the current risks and answer questions in both English and Kreyòl Ayisyen. The workshops also support family preparedness planning during this challenging time. 【1-702501】
“These are working people. They are not criminals. They are people who applied for TPS because they did not want to work in the shadows.”
— Sandra Britto, 1199 Delegate and PCT at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is designated by the U.S. State Department for countries facing unsafe conditions caused by unrest or natural disasters. The article notes that Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Ukraine were among the designated countries from which many healthcare workers have sought refuge in the United States. 【1-702501】