Ocasio-Cortez, Dingell and 42 Colleagues Send Letter to the Administration Highlighting Damage to U.S. Health Care System Caused by Trump’s Failed Immigration Policy

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Representative Debbie Dingell (MI-06) led 42 House Democrats in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer expressing their deep concern with the Trump Administration’s extreme immigration policies and the potential long-term damage to our health care system - especially access to long-term services and supports. 

Long-term services and supports are provided by direct care workers, and for years, the U.S. has struggled with an intractable direct care workforce shortage. Immigrants make up nearly 30 percent of all direct care workers, compared to only 17 percent of the broader U.S. labor force. They are the backbone of the direct care workforce. The Trump Administration’s extreme immigration policies could seriously damage access to long-term care for older adults and people with disabilities. 

“Efforts by this Administration to deport immigrants and curb immigration will aggravate the current workforce shortage and hurt the millions of Americans who need long-term services and supports,” wrote the lawmakers. “Without the vital help of immigrant direct care workers, millions across the country will receive lower quality of care or lose access to care altogether, while others may have to rely on unpaid family caregivers for support. This would have broad economic implications.”

“The Trump administration’s immigration policies are targeting some of the most trusted members of our communities, who help us care for our aging parents and greet our children every morning,” said Ai-jen Poo, President of NDWA and Executive Director of Caring Across Generations. “Families will see the consequences of these extreme immigration policies when they have to cut back at work because a sick loved one needs more of their time, when their care costs go up, or when a family member can’t find the support they need to stay in their homes. At the same time, the care workers we represent are deeply concerned about their safety and their ability to continue doing the essential care work communities across the country need. Lawmakers must answer for whether they ever considered the real human cost of these plans.”

“Threatening and deporting immigrant workers is not only cruel, it’s a terrible idea if we want caring hands to be available when our family members are in their hours of need. The demand for care far exceeds our care workforce, and immigrants are essential to filling that gap. Three in ten home care workers are immigrants and 21 percent of the nursing assistant workforce are immigrants,” said April Verrett, President of Service Employees International Union. “We will all be better off when care workers --  and indeed all workers -- have a path to citizenship.”

The consequences of mass direct care worker shortages could devastate families and further agitate the already unsteady U.S. economy.  The lawmakers concluded the letter by requesting that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and DOL Secretary Chavez-DeRemer provide written responses to a thorough list of questions no later than Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

The full text of the letter can be found here.

The letter was signed by Reps. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), André Carson (IN-07), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Judy Chu (CA-32), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Gerald Connolly (VA-11), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Jesús García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Summer Lee (PA-12), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James McGovern (MA-02), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Grace Meng (NY-06), Seth Moulton (MA-06),  Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Marc Veasey (TX-33), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07). 

The letter was endorsed by American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Caring Across Generations; Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Institute for Women’s Policy Research; Justice in Aging; Little Lobbyists; National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Council of Jewish Women; National Women’s Law Center Action Fund; and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). 

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