Post by Amy Elkin. Colgate Class of 2021. “There’s Only One Thing Stopping Trump From Deporting Health Care Workers,” The New York Times, April 2, 2020.

This article begins by addressing the fact that if the Supreme Court validates the termination of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, then this could lead to the deportation of thousands of healthcare workers in the US. With the COVID-19 pandemic, having as many medical workers as possible is critical. It is estimated that 29,000 of those front-line medical workers could be deported. This relates to what we are learning in class because it emphasizes the idea that many foreign-born workers are involved in STEM-related fields.

A total estimate for DACA recipients working in the healthcare and social-assistance industries is around 43,500 workers, as found by the Center for Migration Studies. Regardless of the outbreak of COVID-19, these medical workers were still needed in the US. Some states including California, New York, and Connecticut are even allowing medical professionals that are licensed out-of-state to practice there. Both Connecticut and New York have even reached out to retired medical professionals for help with this pandemic. Some medical graduate students are even being asked to help out in New York hospitals. However, DACA participants in healthcare have already been trained for these hospitals, so it would alleviate some of this stress to keep them in these hospitals.

Moreover, these workers are also crucial in other job sectors including grocery stores, pharmacies, and manufacturing. The United States is relying on these workers right now, however, this should not be an excuse to just delay their deportation. We cannot just use their service during this hard time and then deport them afterward.