Many home care workers are immigrants. Now, some are afraid to go to work.

[rangerrebew]

Many home care workers are immigrants. Now, some are afraid to go to work.
Last year, 65% of people working for Chicago-area home care agencies weren’t citizens. There are early signs that a federal campaign against immigration is keeping them off the job.
By  Elvia Malagón and Esther Yoon-Ji Kang | WBEZ   Aug 6, 2025, 6:31am EDT
 

Michelle Garcia relies on a wheelchair and has long turned to immigrant workers she finds through an informal network to help her with bathing and light housework. But in recent months, she has sometimes gone two to three-week stretches without any help.

She began struggling to find care this year, as news spread of federal agents arresting immigrants in Chicago. One fearful woman who had worked for Garcia at her Chicago home called one day to say that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were on her block.


“I told her, ‘You don’t have to come. Do what’s best for you,’” says Garcia, 48, who has cerebral palsy.

Losing the help has meant that Garcia, who even sleeps in her motorized wheelchair, has gone weeks without a shower. She needs someone to help her move to a shower chair to safely bathe. She lives with and cares for her husband, who has a spinal cord injury and is bedridden, and the workers she hires also help with his hygiene. Around her home, she cleans what she can and has relied on take-out meals.

https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2025/08/06/immigrants-deportations-shrinking-health-care-workforce

[rangerrebew]

Many home care workers are immigrants. 

                 

                  Illegal Immigrants

[Smokin Joe]

                 

                  Illegal Immigrants

That's the problem. The MSM has conflated legal immigration with illegal immigration to the point that it is likely confusing for most anyone here who isn't a citizen.
It is entirely possible that legal immigrants and green card holders have been panicked by their BS.

[Wingnut]

"Home Care"?  Is that a domestic?  Maid, cook, housekeeper, concubine?

[roamer_1]

"Home Care"?  Is that a domestic?  Maid, cook, housekeeper, concubine?

Sorta... Sorta not. It is more about taking care of the disabled. Some more than others. I have had home care of one kind or another, ever since my back surgery. In the beginning it was RN, OT, and PT folks... Now it has settled down to my niece, who does happen to be a legal immigrant and born US citizen, who comes around every two weeks or so to wash and care for my lower legs (which I can't really reach), and to do pickup work wrt cleaning - stuff I have trouble doing... mainly floors and garbage, and hard core cleaning and sterilization in the kitchen and bathroom... but basically making sure the whole house is clean.

I don't mean to make that sound small. Doro takes real good care of me, and I don't know what I'd do without her.

That ain't any of it paid by SS/Disability btw. That is paid for by my family.

[Fishrrman]

You're not going to like this post.

As vocal as I have been about the illegal problems in the country, a question:

If it came down to being cared for by someone "of questionable origin" of the Hispanic appearance, or by some callous ghettopotamus who got the position through DEI, who would YOU prefer?

When I had surgery to remove a lung carcinoid back in 2015 (posted about it in this forum), I was attended to by a young lady P.A. from Venezuela, who was competent and excellent. I have no idea as to whether she was fully "legal" or not.

But the question above still applies...

I TOLD YOU that you probably weren't going to like this post.

[roamer_1]

I will add this to the question: At least here, in my experience, Home care does not have a large contingent of Illegals.

They tend to be older women. Only two in my history were not white Americans - My first OT, who was certainly American, but of native blood, or perhaps, Mediterranean Latin descent (high Spanish or Italian, maybe)... And my Doro, who is black and Costa Rican by birth.

Like I have often said with Construction: We have all these services here, without any large illegal alien contingent. So don't tell me folks elsewhere must do without. We get by just fine without lawbreakers here. So can you.

[LMAO]

ghettopotamus

 

[Timber Rattler]

"Home Care"?  Is that a domestic?  Maid, cook, housekeeper, concubine?

Caregivers for the elderly and disabled when there is no family to do it.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The premise of the article is that home care will not take place without these illegals working them.

No one believes Americans will not fill these jobs.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

                 

                  Illegal Immigrants

Yep, they leave this out when it's not convenient to them.

[roamer_1]

Caregivers for the elderly and disabled when there is no family to do it.

Sorta - But there is a whole line of health pros that come out too... If it costs a bit to move you, it is often cheaper to pay the house call. Or if moving the patient is undesirable - It was better after my back surgery to leave me at home - To move me would have meant an ambulance ride, so Home Health and Home Care kicked in, because it was cheaper than shipping me..

[Timber Rattler]

But there is a whole line of health pros that come out too...

Depends on where you live...if in a rural area such services are often not available.  I know...my elderly dad is dying of cancer and my elderly mom has advanced dementia.

[Smokin Joe]

Depends on where you live...if in a rural area such services are often not available.  I know...my elderly dad is dying of cancer and my elderly mom has advanced dementia.

That's a difficult situation to deal with. Prayers up for you all!

[roamer_1]

Depends on where you live...if in a rural area such services are often not available.  I know...my elderly dad is dying of cancer and my elderly mom has advanced dementia.

Oh, for sure.  But then I would guess that most services for the disabled are not very available in rural places. I am only a mile out of town, but there are some services that won't go past city limits.

As much as I hate the thought, I have been considering an assisted living apartment in town. Paved sidewalks would give me much more opportunity to get out of the house... City services and hospital services often support handicap transportation for very little cost. Even a mile out of town there is much that is unavailable.

[Timber Rattler]

That's a difficult situation to deal with. Prayers up for you all!

Thanks!  It's been a nightmare dealing with it all.

[GtHawk]

"Home Care"?  Is that a domestic?  Maid, cook, housekeeper, concubine?

Well I would assume that they may offer assistance to the elderly or disabled. In the case of my mother they are called caregivers, hired through an agency and anything but inexpensive, also they are certified CNA’s. I am sure there are many less than, above board, companies providing questionable ‘home care’ personnel to those who can’t afford qualified professionals, Hell we pay about 10K a month for 24/7 care for my mom.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

home care workers = ass wipers. Let's call a spade a spade here. :D

Pretty crass analogy.

That discourse needs to be condemned.

[roamer_1]

I'm a fan, btw...I have received generally excellent home care in my recent sojourn.

And before folks cuss it too roundly, it proves that a distributed model - like some of us knew back in the day, when docs still made house calls - It proves that distributed model is often cheaper than the institutional alternative.

I have often said that one way to lower costs would be to give RNs the ability to prescribe, and put em in a minivan and turn em loose. Let someone do house calls... Working under a doctor's house, of course.

Even making house calls, and RN is way cheaper than a doc, and often just as knowledgeable, at least in the normal flow of things.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Pretty crass analogy.

That discourse needs to be condemned.

I self censored.

[mountaineer]

I sincerely hope sick or disabled people are not adversely affected by the ICE crackdowns, but they still have to happen. We cannot make exceptions. If there's any issue at all with a shortage of homecare workers is a sad commentary on Americans, who seem more content to sit at home and collect benefits than work.

[berdie]

I sincerely hope sick or disabled people are not adversely affected by the ICE crackdowns, but they still have to happen. We cannot make exceptions. If there's any issue at all with a shortage of homecare workers is a sad commentary on Americans, who seem more content to sit at home and collect benefits than work.

I agree. Although in this instance, unless a person has a caring nature...it could be best for them to sit at home and eat Doritos. It's sure not an easy job to be a caretaker.

[roamer_1]

I will add that any English speaking RN/OT/PT, probably any with end-of-life caregiver credz would have no trouble getting a green card.

[DCPatriot]

I self censored.

    

[LMAO]

The premise of the article is that home care will not take place without these illegals working them.

No one believes Americans will not fill these jobs.

Americans are filling them.

There just isn’t enough to meet the demand

[LMAO]

I sincerely hope sick or disabled people are not adversely affected by the ICE crackdowns, but they still have to happen. We cannot make exceptions. If there's any issue at all with a shortage of homecare workers is a sad commentary on Americans, who seem more content to sit at home and collect benefits than work.

There’s a shortage of health and home care workers because the demand is exceeding supply. There’s more sick and elderly people who need care than the number of people who can provide it. We had a local home vent patient house that had to close because it couldn’t find enough help

This is the same demographic issue facing SS and Medicare

[DCPatriot]

Americans are filling them.

There just isn’t enough to meet the demand

"Visiting Angels" comes to the home but believe you get charged by the hour, but what you guys are talking about is caring for patients one level prior to hospice care.

People who suffered strokes or amputations... no longer ambulant.

Have no idea how much a home-care tech earns per hour, but you can be sure the patient pays ten times the rate.

[roamer_1]

Americans are filling them.

There just isn’t enough to meet the demand

The same could be said across the medical industry - But it isn't a reason to support illegal aliens.

[roamer_1]

"Visiting Angels" comes to the home but believe you get charged by the hour, but what you guys are talking about is caring for patients one level prior to hospice care.

People who suffered strokes or amputations... no longer ambulant.

Have no idea how much a home-care tech earns per hour, but you can be sure the patient pays ten times the rate.

Home care is a wide field. I qualified for medical home care post-surgery for about 6 or 8 months before it dropped off, mostly. Though even now they do come around some...

My Physiatry doc ordered a home visit and had one of his OT chicks come out here to see how I am getting on at home - Had me jump through some hoops. And that was just a few weeks ago.

I will say that my only Home health folks were medical in nature. I am not aware of any government paid program that supplies any hospitality or even hospice care. If you can't do for yourself that way, you're probably headed to assisted living or Hospice...

So Home Care is mostly for elderly or semi-ambulatory folks like me who can mostly do for themselves. Even someone who is wheelchair bound... If you ain't got folks to care for you,and you can't do on your own, you're probably headed for a facility.

BTW, the only thing around here providing meals is churches or the county's Meals on Wheels program. They provide a boxed hot lunch - but otherwise, you're on your own. Assisted living can provide all of that; meals, laundry service, personal hygiene, cleaning, and etc, in varied degrees.