Decision to Grant Foreign Nurses Extension Praised

A federal immigration agency decision to grant one-year extensions to foreign nurses facing deportation was praised Saturday as a positive step toward dealing with California’s critical nursing shortage.

However, health care officials cautioned that the measure, which would immediately affect about 20% of about 5,000 foreign nurses statewide who have been recruited to help ease the shortage, is only “stop-gap” in nature.

“This is a Band-Aid to provide immediate relief,” warned C. Duane Dauner, president of the California Assn. of Hospitals and Health Systems. “It is not a permanent solution. We are in dire straits for nurses, especially in the areas of critical care, obstetrics and trauma care.”

Last year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service decided to limit temporary H-1 work visas for foreign nurses to five years, with a one-year extension possible on a limited basis. But acceding to the appeals of the health care industry, INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson ruled last week that one-year extensions will be granted for the next year.

In announcing the temporary policy change, Nelson encouraged hospitals and nursing homes “to do more to recruit and retain U.S. nurses . . . (by taking) immediate steps such as improving wages and working conditions (and) providing loans and scholarships for current employees and others who desire to become nurses.”

Nationwide, officials say that about 300,000 nursing jobs are unfilled, with California and New York particularly hard hit. In Los Angeles, Dauner said, more than 2,000 foreign nurses with H-1 visas are filling positions that would be vacant.

While more than 40% of those whose visas are scheduled to expire this year have applied for permanent residency, Dauner added, the chances for success are particularly slim for Filipinos, who make up about two-thirds of the foreign nurses in California. At this point, Dauner said, the INS has a 17-year backlog on Filipino cases.

David Rodich, Los Angeles-based organizing director for the Service Employees International Union, agreed that the INS decision is a positive, if temporary, step.

“If a year buys additional time to deal with the situation . . . I’m in favor of that,” Rodich said.