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NEW BEDFORD — Johnna sat tall — dressed in scrubs, a blue bandana covering her head — in an office at the Immigrants’ Assistance Center Tuesday.
The 29-year old Haitian immigrant was stoic as she recalled the five-minute meeting the day before in an area assisted living facility. The letter they handed her said she could no longer work there without providing new documentation.
That Monday, July 27, also happened to be the same day the aegis of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) ended for more than 330,000 Haitians in the U.S.
“I didn’t expect it,” said Johnna, who asked The Light to use only her middle name due to fears of deportation. “I didn’t expect it would be like that and fast like that.”
Since then, the questions keep coming. How will she cover food for herself and her 4-year-old daughter? How will she pay the $1,150 monthly rent for the bedroom the two share?
These are issues that many in the Haitian community face now that their TPS expired. Since a U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 25 ended the program for Haitians, a maelstrom of rumors and reports of a possible deportation campaign targeting them has done little to assuage fears.
And, if the three calls IAC President Helena DaSilva Hughes received Monday from Haitians who lost their jobs are any indication, healthcare in the South Coast and Massachusetts as a whole, may very well suffer.
“When you look at the Haitian community, CNAs keep coming up,” DaSilva Hughes said. “The impact it’s going to have on the healthcare community is gonna be huge.”
‘It’s a crisis’
Varying reports estimate that there are between 22,000 and 45,000 Haitian TPS holders living in Massachusetts. At least 2,000 of those are “frontline staff” in the elder care and assisted living industries, according to the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, an industry group representing almost 400 such facilities. That is expected to worsen an already severe worker shortage at facilities and thus impact patient care.
Tara Gregorio, the association’s president and CEO, told The Light in an email that it is following guidance from Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell and working with “employer members to clarify the expiration date for Haitian TPS” – a question around which there is some confusion as the certified copy of the SCOTUS ruling has yet to be delivered to the lower courts.
“This is expected to occur shortly,” Gregorio said in her statement. “In the meantime, we join Governor Healey, Attorney General Campbell and the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation in urging the U.S. Senate to adopt legislation extending Haitian TPS.”
The Light reached out to several area nursing homes to speak about the impact of the program’s end on their businesses, but none responded.
Advocates within the Haitian community said their contributions to the industry will be missed by those who benefit from their care.
“Many people might not understand that their loved ones in the nursing homes might not receive any care,” said Dieufort ‘Kiki’ Fleurissaint, chairman of the board of directors at Haitian-Americans United, Inc. “Many loved ones of U.S. citizens will be impacted and that will turn this into a public health issue.”
Fleurissaint, who is also senior pastor at Total Health Christian Ministries, a Haitian church in Milton, said that many Haitian workers noticed they were permanently taken off work schedules as of July 24. The first wave of job losses, he said, came around February after a federal rule imposed new restrictions on which immigrants could obtain commercial driver licenses. TPS holders who worked in public transit jobs had to leave as they were unable to renew their CDL licenses.
Fleurissaint said that as TPS holders lose their jobs, the ripple will spread slowly through the whole economy. Those who are impacted will face difficulties paying their mortgages, supporting children and elders, making tuition payments, and curbing their overall spending.
“It’s a disaster,” he said. “It’s a crisis impacting people mentally, physically, and financially.”
New Bedford has not escaped those trends, said Pastor Lander Saintelus of Bright Morning Star International Ministries, a Haitian church on Purchase Street. In February, he told The Light most of his 100-family congregation was jobless. Since Monday, he said he is aware of seven more who have lost their jobs. On Wednesday, he learned of two men in his congregation who were let go from an area group home due to the lifting of protections.
“They didn’t even let them finish their shift,” he said. “The Haitian community doesn’t know what to do right now.”
‘I don’t have nothing in Haiti’
Johnna moved to New Bedford in 2025 after she escaped what she described as an emotionally and psychologically abusive marriage to a U.S. citizen in Florida, where she had been living since she emigrated to the U.S. in 2015. She added that her estranged husband refused to help her obtain legal permanent residency.
In 2015, Johnna said, her uncle applied for asylum for her under his case as she was then a minor. She said she is unsure of where that case stands but she did receive a work permit and Social Security card at the time. In 2022, she applied and received Temporary Protected Status to make sure she could continue to legally live and work in the U.S.
“We watch our backs and are waiting to see what happens next. It’s very tough right now. New Bedford is hurting.”
Johnna said her TPS expired in 2024 and she applied that July for an extension, a process that is still pending according to documents shown to The Light.
“That is very, very common,” DaSilva Hughes said. “This is a pattern that I have been seeing. No one is getting answers.”
Johnna said she lives in fear and leaves home only when necessary. The blinds are always closed at her apartment and she does not allow her 4-year-old daughter to play outside out of an abundance of caution.
“I tell her not to play, not to make loud noises,” she said. “It’s terrible. She’s supposed to be free to play now.”
Johnna is not alone in her terror. Saintelus, the New Bedford pastor, said he is debating whether to close the church as a protective measure for the community.
“We watch our backs and are waiting to see what happens next,” he said. “It’s very tough right now. New Bedford is hurting.”
Haiti remains an unstable nation despite the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end TPS. The nation never truly recovered from the 2010 earthquake that killed between 200,000 and 300,000 people. Now, organized gangs largely control its capital, Port-Au-Prince. In 2018, the U.S. State Department placed the country under a Level 4 travel advisory, recommending U.S. citizens not visit due to instability and safety concerns. It has yet to remove the designation.
Johnna said she is exploring avenues to remain in the U.S. and considering a move to Canada where she has family. For the moment, her cousin — who lives in the same apartment — would cover their rent.
“I’m scared because I don’t have nothing in Haiti,” she said. “If I go to Haiti now, I’m going straight to the streets.”
Just then a tiny hand made several taps on the office door. Seconds later, Johnna’s daughter ran in, a Black doll encased in pink packaging in her hands. For a moment, Johnna’s face lit up.
“Mommy! Look!” she shouted in excitement. “They told me I can take it home!”
“That’s amazing!” Johnna said.
The melancholy returned with the child’s departure. Now, fear and anticipatory grief taint even the small moments of happiness.
“I’m scared of driving with my daughter and they stop me,” she said. “I don’t think they will call somebody to come pick her up. They will separate us.”
Contact Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org
Have Haitians had a significant negative impact on New Bedford?
How many have been convicted of serious crimes?
I’m not going to claim I know immigration law, however:
1. I do know the definition of TEMPORARY.
2. Why did they not begin the formal citizenship process while TEMPORARY?
That is all.
There is no legal pathway for those on TPS to become citizens. The law should be changed to allow them to apply for citizenship after a certain amount of time, especially since most are working and contributing to our economy
Agree!
If these employees had any courage they’d keep these migrants employed for as long as possible.
Trump has issued a death sentence to some of these migrant if they are sent back to Haiti.
Haiti is not safe unless you’re a gang member of a corrupt government official. The nation capital, Port-au-Prince, is mostly ruled by gangs who extort money from residencts or kill them. This is what Trump is sending these people back to.
Yes, but there are legislative efforts being made to extend TPS for Haitians, and other asylum seekers.
The House of Representatives has already passed a resolution to extend TPS status. The Senate is now debating it. Those who wish to have TPS extended should contact their US senator and urge them to also pass this resolution in the Senate,
This Senate Debate argument in favor of extending TPS status explains the situation in Haiti.
Ed Markey Introduces Bill To Extend TPS Protection For Haitian Migrants–Then Eric Schmitt Objects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A20F8Qaaxs
The big question with the state, illegals, and associated agencies. It has been 6 years from the start of the biden administration, why hasn’t the state helped, associated agencies helped, or illegals themselves started the process to get legal? You cannot keep blaming the federal government.
Those on TPS have no legal pathway to become citizens