California Nurses Association condemns Trump administration plans to deploy ICE, National Guard to invade Bay Area

California’s largest union of registered nurses, an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the largest U.S. RN union, issued the following statement responding to recent announcements by the Trump administration that both ICE and the National Guard would be deployed to the San Francisco Bay Area:

Registered nurses across California condemn and reject the Trump administration’s recently announced plans to deploy ICE, border patrol agents, and the National Guard to the San Francisco Bay Area. President Trump so far has sought to misuse the National Guard and active-duty soldiers to attack five major Democratic-led cities: Washington, D.C; Los Angeles; Chicago; Portland, Ore.; and Memphis, Tenn.

As advocates for the health and safety of all patients, regardless of their immigration status, nurses warn that increased militarization of our neighborhoods actively endangers public health. Armed federal agents on our Bay Area streets and in our communities, not immigrant workers, are the biggest threat to all of our safety. Immigrants are our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, are us, and we stand in solidarity with all immigrants as working people.

Across the United States, we have been outraged to see violent raids, kidnappings, and indiscriminate racial profiling of Black and Brown people, resulting in physical harm and immense trauma to our patients — as well as disruption to critical community resources, including hospitals.

Nurses know that when ICE attacks immigrants and other activists, it often takes patients they injure to our hospitals. These federal agents bring fear and panic to places that must remain safe spaces for healing. On Tuesday, Oct. 21, an ICE agent in Los Angeles shot two people — something that never would have happened if they weren’t attacking immigrant workers who are just trying to make a better life for themselves. This resulted in ICE converging on California Hospital and the entire facility being locked down, with visitors and ambulances being turned away. Nurses reject any ICE presence at our health care facilities and will be holding our employers responsible for ensuring that we can continue to do our jobs saving the lives of all patients.

Trump has also violated the due process and Constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, who have been detained, beaten, tased, and shot by immigration agents (at least 170 U.S. citizens, according to Pro Publica) during these violent raids and military deployments. A registered nurse and former member of our union was among those detained in Los Angeles.

California nurses demand an immediate stop to the violence the Trump administration has already inflicted on our state and on our nation, and we will be standing in solidarity to resist and say, “No!” to this outrageously unjust attack on the Bay Area. Our communities are not war zones, and we understand that when this administration comes after the most vulnerable, we all lose.