Additional work authorization pathway for noncitizens sought

(The Center Square) – Noncitizens of the United States may soon use another pathway for work authorization in the country's health care system.

The request is backed by Immigration Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and several lawmakers, including Democratic North Carolina U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee.

The congresswoman, in a letter to ICE interim Director Patrick Lechleitner, asks for nursing to be part of the STEM optional practical training extension.

“At Duke University Hospital for instance,” she writes, “many registered nurses begin their nursing career as foreign nationals who have obtained their nursing education within the United States.”

Foreign nationals are neither citizens nor nationals of the country, in this case, the United States. America, through executive orders issued in the early hours of Joe Biden's presidency, changed its border policies beginning in 2021, and since then, it has been bolstered by an estimated 12 million people entering the country or living here illegally.

Foushee said Duke and other hospitals are facing staffing shortages.

In a release from the 4th Congressional District representative’s office, a Duke official agreed the issue is broad.

“International nurses are highly trained professionals who fill critical staffing roles throughout our health system,” said Terry McDonnell, senior vice president and chief nurse executive at Duke University Health System. “They enable us to keep hospital beds, emergency services and operating suites open and provide essential health care to the communities we serve.

“Including nursing as an eligible field for the STEM OPT extension would allow these trained and actively working RNs to remain in their positions for an additional two years, reducing the need for hospitals to recruit and train new staff.”

In January, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce forecast 193,100 nursing job openings annually per year through 2032. The projection for additions is 177,400, a gap of nearly 16,000. At the time, the national unemployment rate was 3.7% and the 2022 nursing unemployment rate was 1.6%, the chamber said in its report.

The chamber said that from 2020 to 2021 — also the first year of the COVID-19 era — registered nurses in the workforce declined by more than 100,000, the largest drop in 40 years. Many were under the age of 35.