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 9
NATIONAL
O
n aug. 27, National Nurses
United in eight cities across the
country held civil disobedience
protests by briefly stopping traffic
to demand that their hospital systems, govern-
ment and elected officials, and other
institutions immediately cut ties with the A.I.
tech company Palantir. Nurses want their
employers to stop buying Palantir products
and services, their elected officials to reject
Palantir campaign contributions, their govern-
ments to stop contracting with Palantir, and
investment institutions to divest from its stock.
The actions included visual displays of
the deadly costs of Palantir's products,
including its development and operation
of ELITE, an application used by federal
agents that identifies people for arrest
using, in part, improperly obtained Medi-
caid data.
In each city, nurses placed 50 pairs of
baby shoes in the street—one pair of shoes
representing every 10 babies who have been
detained since President Trump took office.
Passersby could also see large images of the
heart-wrenching notes written by some of
the 6,000 children who have been impris-
oned by federal agents since the second
Trump term began. The nurses also held
large red umbrellas emblazoned with eyes,
symbolizing that nurses are keeping an eye
on Palantir's harmful activities.
"Union nurses cannot be silent when our
most vulnerable people, babies and children,
are being detained by federal immigration
agents," said NNU President Jamie Brown,
RN. "While our patients and neighbors are
living in fear of immigration raids enabled by
Palantir, our hospitals are facing huge cuts
and our patients are facing mounting health
care costs because of H.R. 1. Nurses aren't
just saying no to Palantir, but we're calling
for our public resources to go toward the
benefit of working people, not billionaires
and their corporations."
—Staff report
Nurses demand Palantir out!
No evil A.I. in hospitals, government, or society
Chicago, Ill. Austin, Texas Asheville, N.C.
Palo Alto, Calif. Portland, Maine
Washington, D.C. New Orleans, La.
Los Angeles, Calif.
