How is Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill impacting immigrant seniors?

The Weekly Dispatch

Community-powered immigration news from the Bay Area.

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Welcome to El Tímpano’s Weekly Dispatch. I’m Vanessa G. Sánchez, senior health equity reporter.

This week, I want to share the story behind an impactful piece I recently published with our collaborators at KFF Health News and NPR that helped to resurface a national conversation about health care access for immigrant seniors. It tells the story of Rosa María Carranza, an early childhood educator from El Salvador. 

I met Carranza, 67, in November outside the Phillip Burton Federal Courthouse in downtown San Francisco, the day a judge was hearing a legal case to restore Temporary Protected Status for 60,000 U.S. residents from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal. Carranza, who has TPS, is at risk of losing her status too.  

When I talked to Carranza that day, I was struck by the passion with which she spoke about immigrant rights and by the power of her story. She told me she had retired earlier that year after working half of her life as an educator and caregiver for hundreds of children in the Bay Area. But just a few months after she began receiving Medicare, she learned she was going to lose it permanently, despite having paid thousands of dollars into the program for decades. 

In July, President Donald Trump signed ​​the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut about $1 trillion from health programs. The law also barred certain categories of lawfully present immigrants — including TPS holders, refugees, asylum-seekers, survivors of domestic violence, trafficking victims, and people with work visas — from Medicare. 

So when Carranza told me what was happening to her, I knew her story was part of something much larger. She was one of roughly 100,000 other lawfully present immigrants who stand to lose access to the program. 

At that time, much of the public conversation about the impact of this law centered on cuts to Medicaid and the rollback of subsidies that had helped millions of people afford health insurance. Republicans and Trump, meanwhile, falsely claimed the law was ending funding for undocumented immigrants. 

At El Tímpano, we recognized that Medicare cuts carried significant consequences for our subscribers and immigrant communities nationwide. Health experts also told me that eliminating coverage for immigrants with legal status is unprecedented.

“This change is impacting immigrants who have lawful presence in the U.S., and many of whom have already worked and paid into the system for decades,” said Drishti Pillai, director of immigrant health policy at KFF. “This is actually the first time that Congress has taken away Medicare from any group.” 

Carranza’s trust in our newsroom allowed me to spend several months getting to know her and understanding how this policy was shaping her life. 

I visited Escuelita del Bosque, the outdoor preschool she helped found in the forested hills of Oakland, to see her teach toddlers the wonders of nature. Carranza still works there part-time. At her studio apartment, we sifted through her tax records and looked at documents she had carefully kept over the years as a record of her legal authorization to work in this country. We spent hours talking over the phone about her medical appointments, the day she visited the ER because her blood pressure spiked to dangerous levels, the day she found out she has arthritis, and when she was in pain because she tripped on a curb and fell to the ground. 

With time, I was able to show the quieter ways in which immigration policy can impact immigrant communities, particularly their health. 

This story is one of my favorites not only because of the time I was able to spend with Carranza but because of how deeply collaborative it became within our newsroom and with our national partners. After all, impactful journalism is rarely the work of one person alone. 

We partnered with the wonderful editorial, audio, and social teams at KFF Health News and NPR, allowing the story and the powerful photography of Hiram Alejandro Durán to reach hundreds of thousands of people nationwide. Since publication, we have heard from advocates, elected officials, and everyday readers and listeners, many of whom were learning about this issue for the first time. 

Last Saturday, NPR Weekend Edition listeners woke up to a four-minute-long radio version of the story, which our Managing Editor, Daffodil Altan, helped produce. And social media followers of NPR, KFF Health News, and Radio Bilingüe, a Spanish-language national radio network, watched short videos in English and Spanish produced by our Engagement and Impact Manager, Katherine Nagasawa. 

This is not the end of this issue or of my relationship with Carranza. Next week, the U.S Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on a case that is challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate TPS for thousands of Syrian immigrants living and working legally in the United States. Legal advocates say the outcome could impact the entire TPS program – and Carranza’s ability to stay in the U.S. We will certainly continue telling her story. If you or someone you know has been impacted by this or similar policies, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at vsanchez@eltimpano.org. You can also contact me by phone or on Signal at 510-919-8593.

Thank you, see you next week.

Ear to the Ground

Hi, I’m Vanessa Flores, El Tímpano’s community reporter. Last month, we informed El Tímpano’s more than 6,500 Spanish speaking text messaging subscribers about their rights to paid sick leave under California law, part of a collaboration with the California Workplace Outreach Project to share trusted information about workplace rights with the El Tímpano community. The responses reflected uncertainty about eligibility, highlighting the need for clear and accessible labor rights information. Here are a few of their responses: 

Does this [law] apply to those of us who don’t have documents and get paid cash?

—San Leandro resident

Back when I was working, some people weren’t aware of [paid sick leave]. It would be great to launch a campaign on this issue, as many people fear losing their jobs if they request sick leave. 

—Oakland resident

Does this law also apply to those of us who work in the fields?

—Stockton resident

Does this [law] also apply to undocumented people? And independent contractors?

—San Francisco resident

California

• 9th Circuit blocks California limits on anonymous immigration agents

• California Demands Trump Withdraw Proposal Targeting Housing for Mixed-Status Families

• California Lawmakers Seek Protections for Patients in ICE Custody

National

• Temporary protected status holders add $29bn to US economy, report says

• Senate Republicans advance $140bn plan to fund Trump immigration crackdown amid DHS shutdown

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