Nurses demand Congress abolish ICE, invest in health care

National Nurses United, the nation's largest union of registered nurses, provided the following response to the House passage of H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, and H.R. 7147, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026:

"After a year of constant, unchecked violence and militarization of our neighborhoods by the Trump administration-including the murder of Renee Good and Keith Porter, and the horrible violence against children, women, the elderly, and immigrants-that has horrified the nation, it is unconscionable that Congress would send $10 billion in funding to continue terrorizing our communities. The proposed FY26 Homeland Security Appropriations bill does nothing to rein in the abuse of power that we see every day in our streets.

Nurses demand the removal of immigration enforcement agents from communities, the abolition of ICE, and accountability for this administration's crimes against all residents of the United States.

Make no mistake, the terror we are experiencing is being subsidized by our own government and is leading to irreparable harm to the working-class. Workers are being kidnapped at their place of work and being ripped away from their families. Families are often losing their sole source of household income and are unable to cover housing costs, food, and basic needs as a result. Children with immigrant parents are being pulled out of school for fear they might be separated from their parents, or worse be attacked by ICE in their own schools. Immigrant patients are delaying care for fear of being apprehended, and ICE is failing to provide necessary health care to detainees as required by law.

Instead of funding armed secret police to terrorize our Black and brown, AAPI, and indigenous neighbors, Congress must focus on the investments that nurses and working people are demanding to make our society safer, healthier, and more just.

The small investments to health agencies fail to reverse the destruction of our public health agencies caused by the Republican-led Congress and Trump administration, through last year's budget bill and Reduction In Force (RIF) plans.

This appropriations bill also fails to reverse the $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other public health programs that will force patients to go without care and safety-net hospitals to close. It fails to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies needed to prevent huge hikes in premiums for millions of families. And ultimately, it fails to make the transformational reforms nurses and working people are demanding, in order to guarantee health care to every person in the United States free at the point of service.

Nurses know that our vision for a healthy society is possible and we will not stop fighting until it is a reality."

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.