Members of National Nurses United gathered across eight states Thursday to demand Congress stop funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
Locally, the nurses' union staged protests at UC San Diego Health’s Hillcrest and La Jolla medical centers and at Palomar Medical Center Poway.
UC San Diego Health registered nurse Kendle Hargrove said they were trying to educate the public and “advocate for our patients against ICE.”
The nurses said they want to abolish ICE for the health and safety of patients and communities. The union calls federal immigration enforcement one of the country’s top public health threats.
Hargrove said ICE enforcement has “ramped up” and tactics have become more “brazen” under the Trump administration.
“ICE is a public health crisis because right now patients are scared to seek care because they're afraid to go outside,” she said.
Hargrove said she has not seen ICE enter her hospital facility. But she said union members in the county have reported ICE inside and around medical facilities.
“People in the hospital should feel like they can seek care and to not be in fear of persecution,” she said.
The protesters said they want clear protocols for hospitals to enforce Senate Bill 81. That prohibits hospitals from sharing patients’ immigration status with ICE agents, unless there’s a judicial warrant.
The Department of Homeland Security sent KPBS a written statement about the nurses’ protest. It said, “ICE does not conduct enforcement at hospitals — period. We would only go into a hospital if there were an active danger to public safety.”
