Nurses say federal immigration enforcement’s presence threatens patient care and community safety

California nurses today condemn the on-going immigration enforcement presence at Dignity Health’s California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif., and warn that the sustained presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers threatens patients, health care workers, and the entire community that deserves to seek care at their hospital.

Nurses say that new legislation — Senate Bill 81 (S.B. 81), which took immediate effect when it was recently signed into law — is intended to prevent this type of situation by mandating hospital operators have plans in place for immigration enforcement activity in health care facilities. The new law was championed by California Nurses Association (CNA), the state’s largest nurses union.

“ICE is bad for patients, bad for communities, and bad for health care workers,” said Karen Sanchez, RN in a medical/surgical unit at California Hospital. “Our union fought for and won this legislation to demand that employers make plans to prevent situations like this, where ICE presence in a hospital is intimidating patients and health care workers. Our hospitals need to be sanctuary spaces for people who need care, and the presence of ICE in the facility severely impacts how safe patients feel here.”

Following a recent incident in South Los Angeles, nurses say ICE has maintained a presence in California Hospital for days, preventing a patient from seeing family, visitors, or legal representation. The presence of agents in the emergency room and an agent in the patient’s room is intimidating those trying to provide care, other patients, and community members.

California Nurses Association represents 750 nurses at California Hospital Medical Center and more than 100,000 nurses across California. CNA has repeatedly condemned Trump administration and hospital industry moves that have stripped hospitals of sanctuary protections and endangered patients and health care workers nationwide.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the nation with more than 100,000 members in more than 200 facilities throughout California and more than 225,000 RNs nationwide.