Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1546784
26 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 6 was behind them and because of how much they love their coworker." Right before the protest began, MMC nurses received some good news: Kapisha would not be transferred to Louisiana. In the nurses' eyes, their advocacy and organizing was already working. This was in stark contrast to the inaction of their employer, Maine Medical Center, who had not only delayed telling her union about her arrest after learning from her family the previous Friday, but also refused to "get involved." Even worse, nurses know MaineHealth, which owns MMC, had contracted with the A.I. tech company Palantir in some capacity, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was spending billions on Palantir contracts, including applications to surveil and target immigrants for detainment and deportation. Nurses have been calling on MaineHealth to terminate the contract. Kapisha's story exploded and was covered extensively in local, regional, and even national media. The absurdity of imprisoning a working registered nurse who saves lives every day exposed the ugly truth of Trump's cruel and inhumane deportation machine: The deportation program, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and billions spent were never about protecting people in the United States—whether from "criminals" or immigrants taking American jobs. The adminis- tration simply wanted to promote white supremacy by expelling Black and brown people from the United States while helping their corporate prison industry friends make billions doing it. Maine nurses were already no strangers to ICE terror. Besides the reverberations felt locally and nationwide by the killings of Vet- erans Affairs RN Alex Pretti and activist Renee Good, 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero had been shot and killed just weeks before in Biddeford, Maine. ICE had begun operations in the state in January, launching its perversely named initiative "Catch of the Day." MMC nurses, patients, and the wider Portland community had already endured an extremely frightening period of ICE patrols and kidnappings: an environmental services workers had been taken, relatives of patients had been snatched, and a large percent- age of the environmental services staff just stopped showing up to work because the risk of leaving their houses was too great. MMC nurses were personally driving vulnerable coworkers to and from work. "That was just really horrific," said Kelli Brennan, an MMC nurse leader who had her own upsetting run-in with ICE while giv- ing a coworker a ride. "A lot of our coworkers, not even just nurses, but nursing assistants, house- keeping, the folks that work in the kitchen were very scared and not sure what the future was going to be." But now ICE had taken a fel- low registered nurse. "Having one of our own nurses abducted was just so deeply unsettling," said Sarah English, an MMC nurse. "I think when something like this happens, it really hits home for people and they can see that it's not just something that happens on the news to 'the worst of the worst.' It's actually something that is affecting us. And if it happens to someone like this particular nurse, any one of us could be next." After the hugely successful protest, nurses were already strategizing about how to mobi- lize and transport coworkers to a Massachusetts courthouse the next week where Kapisha was scheduled for a hearing. They were in the thick of organizing when they got some stunning but joyous news Thursday: Kapisha was released from cus- tody! "It was unbelievable. I couldn't believe it," said Bren- nan. "And I just started crying. It was just such a relief because we know that once they get to those detention facilities that it is not easy to get them back." MMC nurses held a victory rally the next morning on Friday, Aug. 7. Nurses credit their success in getting Kapisha released to being organized, union RNs who have had much practice working collectively. "Having a union absolutely made a huge difference," said Janel Crowley, an MMC RN. "Without the union, we wouldn't have felt safe to come out here and have our protest, have our press con- ference, and demand that ICE release her. We just would have been afraid." Kapisha, who is still recovering from her traumatic experience, did not wish to be interviewed for this article, but said in a state- ment read by a coworker at the Friday press conference, "Thank you all for your love and support. I am so thankful to be home and can't wait to return to my coworkers and patients." She is now back at work but the fight is not over. She has more upcoming court dates, but now knows her union is fully backing her with support and resources. Kapisha's story is a perfect example of how fighting together gets results despite the most challenging cir- cumstances. "To someone who's feeling just despair and hopelessness, you can stay where you are and sit without, or you can get up and do some- thing, and it doesn't take the entire population to get up and do something," said Sinclair. "Just a small amount of us can come together and make huge change." —Lucia Hwang with reporting by Pauline Luppert WHEN HOME IS NOT SAFE