To the Editor:

Re “The World Is Inside Your Hospital” (Op-Ed, Jan. 1):

I applaud Tom Brokaw for calling attention to the great diversity of national origins in the United States health care delivery system. My husband had myeloma, like Mr. Brokaw, and frequently interacted with doctors, nurses and certified nursing assistants in hospitals and doctors’ offices as well as chemotherapy and radiation centers. He and I appreciated the intelligence and tenacity of the people delivering health care, who often had inspirational stories of their own or their parents’ migration to the United States and of overcoming great obstacles.

I would also like to call attention to another segment of the work force where there is a preponderance of immigrants: in assisted-living facilities and nursing homes. During her journey with dementia, my mother was treated with great kindness by people (mostly women) who often had low-paying jobs. As the United States population ages, we will not be well served by our increasingly restrictive immigration policies.

ANNETTE EVANS, BOCA RATON, FLA.

To the Editor:

Immigrants not only staff our hospitals but also are a vital component of the labor force for delivering in-home health care and elder care. Working one-on-one with seriously ill and/or cognitively impaired patients many hours each day over extended periods makes significant emotional demands on caregivers. The lived experience of immigrants and refugees who have dealt with major obstacles and risks equips them with the empathy, patience and sensitivity needed for quality in-home care.

In terms of formal education and professional training, many of today’s home caregivers would not be admitted to the United States under the Raise Act proposed by Senators Tom Cotton and David Purdue and touted by President Trump as the solution to many of our imagined immigration ills. The legislation would sharply reduce our intake of low-skilled labor. But home caregivers are essential workers. It would be extremely difficult to replace them with American-born workers, who shun the long hours, dirty tasks, emotional demands and low pay of in-home care.