The U.S. Supreme Court's decision today to allow an end to humanitarian protections that have permitted hundreds of thousands of people from Haiti and Syria to live and work legally in the United States is devastating, disturbing and disruptive.

These are our neighbors, our small business owners, our coworkers, our employees.

They care for our kids, our seniors and our communities.

Losing them will cripple businesses and nonprofits across our region that are already struggling to find workers.

45,000 people have been living and many working in Massachusetts under Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which shields immigrants from certain countries that are undergoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary country conditions from deportation.

The largest group of TPS workers in the state is from Haiti. Many have lived here legally since Haiti's 2010 earthquake, filling hard-to-staff jobs in nursing, as home health aides, in construction, in hospitality. They pay taxes. They hold Social Security numbers. They have built lives here.

More than a dozen countries have a TPS designation, including the two in this case — Haiti, with 330,000 people living legally in the U.S., and about 3,800 from Syria.

What Employers Should Know

The 6-3 decision allows the Department of Homeland Security to move ahead with its plans to swiftly end the program. It is not immediately clear when that will happen, according to the Globe.

Employers should not assume that all Haitian employees rely on TPS for work authorization, according to the nonprofit Pathway for Immigrant Workers. Many Haitian and Syrian employees are authorized to work through other immigration benefits, including pending asylum applications with valid Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). Employment decisions should always be based on an employee's current work authorization documents—not assumptions based on nationality or immigration status.