The largest nurses union in the country is organizing nationwide protests on February 19 against federal immigration authorities.
National Nurses United represents more than two hundred thousand registered nurses in the US. They’re demanding that Congress abolish ICE and use that funding for services that support the health and safety of their patients and communities like Medicare and Medicaid. They also say hospital executives aren’t doing enough to keep ICE out of hospitals.
"Hospitals are places of sanctuary and to nurses, nobody is illegal, and nobody should, you know, put off seeking care because of the threat of ICE," says Pomai Neil, a registered nurse at Kaiser Santa Clara. "And at the same time, you know, we have a lot of people that we work alongside, who are also, you know, at risk of being taken by ICE, and we don’t want anyone to be afraid to go to work, because of the threat of ICE, right? Because we need our hospitals well staffed so that we can continue our mission of healing our communities."
She says nurses are protesting either before or after their shifts, so patient care should not be affected.
The union says that immigration enforcement agencies are threatening public health by preventing patients from receiving the medical care and treatment they need and scaring workers. They also point to a recent measles outbreak at an ICE detention facility in Texas.
Thousands of nurses at 21 Bay Area hospitals are participating in the national protest. You can find the full list of participating hospital locations here.
