Malaya Tacoma and PUSO Tacoma are inviting the Filipino community in Tacoma, healthcare workers, unions, community organizations, organizations of faith, churches, and any other folks to join us in pushing forward our ICE out of Hospitals Campaign in Tacoma. Please read below for the context, calls, and demands!
CONTEXT:
On October 23rd, Kuya G was admitted to St. Joseph Medical Center (SJMC) after suffering several months of medical neglect at the NWDC. Upon admission to the hospital, it was revealed that SJMC has a contract with the NWDC / GEO Group to treat detainees. This agreement allows ICE officers to sit in their rooms and act as liaisons for detainees admitted to the hospital for treatment.The presence of ICE within the medical center continues to put health workers & professionals at risk and undermines their ability to treat patients. In late October 2025, a GEO Group agent's fully loaded firearm was found by a nurse unattended in the public restroom of Kuya G’s floor for 6-7 hours. In the case that ICE chooses to arrest staff, workers have been told by the hospital to “let it happen.” Health workers & professionals, especially migrants feel intimidated and fear violent arrest from ICE.
Time and time again, healthcare workers & professionals have been on the front-lines of community defense:
- On December 7th, Kuya G was taken from the NWDC to the airport for his deportation flight despite his severe medical conditions. At the eleventh hour, it was testimonies from healthcare professionals to Philippine Airlines that halted his deportation.
- On January 23, Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) and over 250 nurses mobilized in a picket to demand safe staffing ratios for nurses. Among them, 30+ Filipino nurses mobilized, mostly working night shift
- On January 24th, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37 year old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veteran Affairs hospital, was acting as a legal observer in the streets of Minneapolis when he stepped in to defend a woman being targeted by ICE. He was immediately jumped by 6 ICE agents who proceeded to use pepper spray in an attempt to incapacitate Pretti and the woman they were targeting. An ICE officer then shot Pretti 10 times, rendering him lifeless. Every day, healthcare workers do their part to protect and support the community – Pretti’s actions that day were admirable and one example of the many ways healthcare workers and professionals show up for the community. Pretti stood for what was right, despite his life being threatened.
Despite the fear and intimidation employed by the fascist Trump administration and his ICE goons, there is power and strength when healthcare workers and professionals come together to fight.
Among healthcare workers and professionals, many are migrants from the global south who have been forced abroad by conditions of poverty, famine, government corruption & wars of aggression. In 2024, MultiCare in Washington State received hundreds of Filipino nurses working under exploitative contracts.
CALLS:
- Defend healthcare workers & professionals!
- Defend migrant workers!
- Activism is not a crime!
DEMANDS:
- ICE / GEO Group: Stop the medical malpractice at NWDC. Allow Kuya G and all detainees to receive medical attention without surveillance! Release detainees for medical care! Free them all!
- PH Consulate: Protect Philippine nationals! Ensure they have access to comprehensive medical care!
- SJMC / Common Spirit: Junk the contract with GEO Group and the NWDC! Meet the demands of public health workers & professionals! ICE out of SJMC!
- Federal / State / Local Government: Investigate conditions of NWDC! Shutdown all private detention centers!
