NNU demands return home of Professor Lawani, thousands of immigrants unlawfully held in ICE detention

National Nurses United-the nation's largest union of registered nurses-issued the following statement in response to reporting about Professor Ann Lawani, a registered nurse and professor of nursing, who was abducted by DHS and whose whereabouts remain unknown:

Ann Lawani represents the best of us: a hardworking, dedicated nurse who committed herself fully to her education and profession and is beloved by her patients, her students, and her community. Despite having a legal work permit, issued by DHS itself, the same agency took her away in the middle of the night. They purposefully disappeared her, so as to deny her rights to communication with her family and her right to timely legal representation that would allow for her release. As a result, she is at grave risk of being deported to a third country where she has no ties. We are demanding her immediate release and using our union's resources to support her case.

Professor Lawani is one of tens of thousands of our neighbors who have been disappeared by the Trump administration's cruel policies. Like her, many had been given permission to remain here, and have since built their lives and contributed to their communities. Like her, all need to be returned home and given the chance to reopen their immigration cases. Thousands of children, spouses, and coworkers are waiting for them. We call on her employers John Muir Hospital and the University of San Francisco to use their resources and influence to secure Professor Lawani's release.

The tragedy and horror of Trump's immigration policies led thousands of new voters to the polls to demand change last week. The newly-elected Democratic majority has a mandate to make the return home of Professor Lawani and tens of thousands more a priority on day one. The stakes are even higher now: Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's draconian immigration policy, is now the White House Chief of Staff and will be further emboldened to expand his white supremacist ideology. People across the country, including registered nurses, must keep up the pressure on their elected officials to take bold, urgent action and end this madness.

Please sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/demand-the-release-of-california-nursing-professor-detained-by-ice

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.