Join healthcare professionals from across the country by filling out the form below.

Join higher healthcare professionals from across the country and sign onto this letter in support of citizenship for our friends and colleagues who are Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and essential healthcare workers in any reconciliation bill moving forward.

The White House
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Chuck Schumer, Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Minority Leaders McConnnell and McCarthy,

As leaders of the healthcare profession, we write to urge you to include pathways to citizenship for our friends and colleagues who are Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and essential healthcare workers in any reconciliation bill moving forward.

There are almost 280,000 undocumented workers in the healthcare industry, including 62,600 DACA-eligible individuals. More than 11,000 are TPS holders who are permitted to live and work in the U.S. because armed conflicts or natural disasters make it unsafe to return to their countries of origin. These immigrants are the backbone of our healthcare system working as nursing assistants, home health aides, personal care aides, medical assistants, dental assistants, and registered nurses. They also serve in frontline jobs that keep our medical and care facilities running, including housekeepers and cleaners, receptionists and clerks, and janitors and building cleaners.

Our co-workers who lack permanent legal status have always been indispensable, but now the country understands this fact due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Every day, Dreamers, TPS holders, and undocumented healthcare workers put their own lives on the line to save the lives of Americans. They care for our sick and comfort our dying, at great risk to their own safety, while working under the added stress and fear of being deported and separated from their loved ones.

Even before the pandemic, America was facing a shortage of healthcare workers. Recent studies show that our country will experience a shortage of up to 122,000 physicians by 2032 and will need to hire at least 200,000 nurses per year to meet increasing demands and replace nurses who retire. As our population ages, we will need hundreds of thousands of home health aides, personal care aides, and healthcare workers of every skill level. Students lacking permanent legal status are a critical part of the pipeline for filling these job openings.

Including pathways to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential healthcare workers in the reconciliation bill is morally right and the best way to ensure that Americans get the treatment and care they need. Thank you for acting on this urgent request.