Opinion: Immigration Restrictions Threaten to Deepen Eldercare Staffing Crisis

NewsData.io · United States · Aug 28, 2026

A guest column from Best Companies Group executive Jaime Raul Zepeda argues that restrictive immigration policy is on a collision course with a worsening eldercare workforce shortage. Home health and personal care agencies already need to fill 765,800 openings annually, with immigrants supplying roughly a quarter of that labor. The piece warns that a caregiving shortage cascades into a second labor shortage as family members — typically women in peak earning years — exit the workforce to fill the gap. With 13 million more Americans turning 65 in the next decade and net immigration well below CBO baseline assumptions, staffing firms serving healthcare and long-term care sectors face intensifying placement demand alongside a shrinking eligible labor pool.