On eve of Supreme Court arguments, seniors advocate for their immigrant caregivers
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Senior citizens are among those paying close attention to a case in front of the Supreme Court. Tomorrow, the justices will consider whether the Trump administration improperly terminated temporary protected status for more than 300,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians. NPR's Andrea Hsu explains why the elderly have a stake in the outcome.
ANDREA HSU, BYLINE: At 82, Rita Siebenaler lives in the independent living section of a retirement community in Northern Virginia, known as Goodwin Living. Her late husband, an Army veteran, spent his final days in the memory care unit next door.
RITA SIEBENALER: He had caretakers from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Haiti, and they gave him tender loving care.
HSU: She says some had temporary protected status, a special designation granted to citizens of countries deemed unsafe to return to. The Trump administration points out the status is supposed to be temporary. And since last year, the administration has ended or attempted to end TPS for more than 1 million immigrants, citing improved conditions in their home countries despite continued warnings from the State Department.
Now, as the issue heads to the Supreme Court, Siebenaler hopes the justices, whose average age is 65, will consider the human toll of forcing valuable workers out. She says immigrants drawn to long-term care work often come from cultures where elders are revered, where caretaking is seen as noble.
SIEBENALER: They've already been vetted and have work permits, and they ought to be allowed to continue. We need them.
HSU: Already, Goodwin Living has had to let some workers go. Four Haitian dining workers lost their work authorization after the Trump administration canceled a humanitarian parole program last year.
SIEBENALER: Our kitchen serves a thousand meals a day, and all of a sudden, we lost two Haitian cooks and two kitchen utility workers. That really had an impact.
HSU: Sowing anxiety through the rest of the workforce. The research and advocacy group PHI estimates the U.S. will need to fill close to 10 million caregiving jobs over the next decade. Siebenaler can't see the logic in paring back the workforce at a time like this.
SIEBENALER: This has a tremendous impact on American seniors. You know, hundreds of thousands turn 65 every year. Who's going to care for them?
HSU: That pressing question is what brought Rita Siebenaler and a bunch of her neighbors out in the rain this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Can everybody see me?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Yes.
HSU: A couple dozen seniors, some with their rolling walkers, other (ph) with folding stools, join Democratic lawmakers outside the Capitol to call for protections for TPS holders.
(APPLAUSE)
HSU: After the politicians, Siebenaler made her case.
SIEBENALER: As you age, in spite of your good habits, your bodies fail.
HSU: Elders behind her nod knowingly.
SIEBENALER: Some assistance, of course, comes from families, but often, that assistance comes from the caretakers.
HSU: Afterwards, glancing over at the Supreme Court, Siebenaler says she's unsure how this is going to play out.
SIEBENALER: I'm concerned. I'm anxious. I hope the justices pull on the best legal precedents and do something really great for our temporary protected status workers.
HSU: And she says she'll be praying about it. Andrea Hsu, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF DEBBIE SONG, "I'M DIFFERENT")
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.