Health Care

Seniors’ Access to Health Care May Suffer If DACA Is Terminated

Industries across the nation may find themselves in dangerously short supply of workers if no solution is found for the 800,000 young immigrants now at risk of deportation due to the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative.

One industry, however, may be struck particularly and immediately hard: Health Care.

The Trump administration recently put an end to the Obama-era DACA initiative, which gave young immigrants brought into the country without authorization the ability to work, go to school, drive, and legally reside in the United States without the threat of deportation. A significant portion of these immigrants, also known as Dreamers, now have careers in the health care industry, ranging from home health care aides, to medical specialists, to nursing assistants.

Seniors who rely on workers with DACA for health care services may now lose their aide. Surveys of DACA recipients have shown that roughly 20 percent of them are employed in the health care sector. This suggests that terminating DACA could result in a potential loss of tens of thousands of workers from in-demand health care positions.

Immigrants as a whole likewise play a significant role in the health care industry. According to recent census data, more than one-quarter of home health aides in 2015 were immigrants. That percentage spikes in certain states like California and New York, where nearly one-half and two-thirds of home health aide workers were immigrants, respectively.