Amid cold conditions, Salinas nurses say, ‘ICE not welcome here!’

SALINAS – Stormy weather Thursday didn’t stop dozens of nurses from publicly denouncing continued government spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement out front of Salinas Valley Health Medical Center.

Amid a widespread climate of fear generated by immigration enforcement, Salinas’ nurses joined many others across the country, as part of a nationwide day of action organized by National Nurses United.

NNU is the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, of which California Nurses Association, who organized the Salinas action, is a part of.

Salinas’ nurses were joined in solidarity by a number of public officials including Monterey County Supervisor Kate Daniels, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, Watsonville City Councilwoman Maria Orozco and president of Salinas League of United Latin American Citizens Chris Barrera.

“It can’t be colder (out here) than Minneapolis,” said Daniels, as the rush of passing cars and cold winds tugged at protest signs held by nurses saying, “ICE not welcome here,” and “our patients’ rights have no borders,” referencing the sub-zero temperatures that faced protestors in the Minnesota city.

The weight of ICE’s recent operations in Minneapolis, which transpired in the death of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, hung heavily on many in attendance.

“We are being proactive rather than reactive because we’ve seen what’s going on in Minneapolis,” said Tracy Chavez, chief nurse representative for Salinas Valley Health.

Chavez did not mince words about their demands. “We want the politicians to abolish ICE,” Chavez said. “It’s no longer about immigration, this is terrorizing families and patients.”

“We’re out here demanding that ICE stay out of our hospitals, our schools, our churches, our places of worship. When ICE enters these spaces they don’t just enforce immigration policy, they terrorize the families, the patients. They break trust and they endanger families,” said Chavez.

While the nurses in attendance said that currently there has been no ICE activity in local hospitals, many reported that the fear present in the community has nonetheless taken a toll on public health in the area.

“As nurses we see the direct impacts. People are afraid to come to the hospital, they’re waiting longer to seek care and they’re coming in a lot sicker,” said Brittnee Sandoval, a registered nurse at Salinas Valley Health.

“Our hospital serves a primarily Latino community,” said Sandoval. “We want our community to know that we are standing against the threats to them and we are not going to allow ICE officers to come into our hospitals and disrupt care.”

“We’re demanding that the government stop funding this,” Sandoval said.

Local labor alliances were also on display at the protest, with representatives from Teamsters Local 2010 Union coming to support, after CNA supported the Teamsters in their ongoing strike that morning at Cal State Monterey Bay.

“We were so happy to see CNA on the lines with us,” said Teamsters Representative Jenny Hodge to the crowd. “We are here with you, your fight is our fight. We want to protect patients, we want to protect our students. We will stand for our workers that make the entire system work.”

For Supervisor Daniels, the demands made by the nurses were heard loud and clear.

“It is undoubtedly a public health crisis and thank you to the nurses for pointing that out and gathering here today,” said Daniels.

“(County supervisors) have a duty to our constituents, many of whom are very scared right now and many who worry what it would look like if Minnesota happened here in California,” Daniels said. “So at this point in time, we’re trying to figure out how we respond and how our constituents stay safe.”

Chris Hamilton is a California Local News fellow covering Salinas and the Salinas Valley for The Herald.