On December 2, 2025, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy alert memo announcing a temporary pause on immigration benefits applications for individuals from countries currently subject to the federal travel ban. This pause affects applicants from 19 countries designated as “high-risk” in the June 4, 2025 Presidential Executive Order, a list that includes Haiti.
Under this policy alert, USCIS will:
- Pause adjudication of Form I-589 (applications for asylum and withholding of removal);
- Pause adjudication of pending benefit requests, including applications for lawful permanent residency (green cards); and
- Re-review previously approved benefits for individuals from travel-ban countries who entered the U.S. on or after January 20, 2021.
While the policy applies broadly to all countries under the travel ban, the inclusion of Haiti has significant implications for the nursing facility sector in the Commonwealth. Many nursing facilities rely on immigrant workers, particularly Haitians, to meet essential caregiving needs. Nursing facilities, supported by Mass Senior Care (MSCA), have worked extremely hard to reduce vacancy rates to 13% across key caregiving roles, including CNAs, LPNs, and RNs. Additional delays or disruptions in immigration processing will further constrain an already limited workforce pipeline.
The scheduled conclusion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians on February 3, 2026 adds another layer of uncertainty. Many current TPS holders have pending green card applications that will be affected by this new federal action. As a result, the stability of our caregiving workforce – critical to quality and continuity of care – is at high risk for an increase in vacancy rates in the months ahead.
MSCA will continue to monitor immigrations actions closely, remain engaged in advocacy efforts to protect our immigrant workers, and share updates as more information becomes available.