Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546784
J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 23 WHEN HOME IS NOT SAFE Trump's cruel and racist immigration policies are endangering nurse members and upending lives, careers S ince the trump administration began targeting immigrants and Black and brown people for deportation, nurses have long been concerned about how these actions hurt patients—whether it's federal agents using excessive force on people they are trying to detain or even killing them, showing up at hospitals with detainees needing medical attention and putting the entire facility in a panic, or instilling so much fear in our communities that people just stop seeking medical care because they can't go outside. But what happens when the nurse is the one at risk of deporta- tion, the one hunted by Trump's cruel and racist deportation machine? That's exactly the situation that some of our union nurse members are in. In the following pages, we share the stories of three categories of immigrant nurses who have been directly harmed by the Trump administration: Dreamer or DACA, deferred action for childhood arrival, nurses; nurses seeking asylum; and nurses with temporary protected status (TPS). For years, even decades, they have all been legally permitted to live and work in the United States, until Trump and the U.S. Supreme Court suddenly decided for some of them that they are not. Now they are in danger of arrest and detainment in one of the many for-profit detention prisons that have been documented to provide horrific living conditions, or deportation to their country of origin or even a third country. For nurses who have built entire lives, friend networks, and families here, who have successfully pursued nursing careers here and even taken leadership positions with our union, the current deportation risks they face are devastating and earth shattering. They are saving lives each day, but their own lives are now hanging in the balance. But as you can also learn from their stories, we, as the largest nursing union in the country, have the power to help. We are one of the only national unions to call for abolishing ICE. And by fighting collectively and marshalling our members, our resources, our knowledge, and our reputation as the most trusted profession in the United States, we have been able to prevent the worst for some of our immigrant nurses. If you are an immigrant nurse in need of help, please do not hesitate to reach out to your labor representative. As a union, we will never stop fighting for justice for all immigrants and the right of people to move and stay in the communities that they see as home.