We need our health care providers
To the editor:
Families across our communities are already struggling with the rising costs of health care, child care, and aging and disability care. At the same time, our country faces serious shortages of workers who provide this essential care. Yet instead of investing in care and stability, immigration policies are putting these workers-and the families who depend on them-at risk.
Losing trusted caregivers can deepen workforce shortages, disrupt care for children, older adults, people with disabilities, and patients, weaken local economies, and increase costs for families.
Dreamers and TPS recipients are nurses, nursing assistants, child care providers, home health aides, teachers, parents, and neighbors. They are essential to the workforce and to the communities we all rely on every day.
Congress must act now to protect Dreamers, the 1.3 million TPS holders, and their families from detention, deportation, and family separation. Passing the American Dream and Promise Act would provide a pathway to permanent protections and allow these essential workers to continue caring for our communities.
Protecting immigrant caregivers means protecting the people our families depend on, strengthening our communities, and building a stronger economy for everyone.
If you have a loved one who receives in home health care services or is in a care facility in Southwest Florida, you know how important these legal immigrant workers are to their well being. I do!
Kendall Nygard
Bokeelia