(NEW YORK CITY) – The Healthcare Needs All of Us Coalition held a day of action on Thursday (September 24th) in New York City to highlight the importance of supporting Immigrant Health Care Workers.

The day began with a morning news conference at City Hall and continued with afternoon actions, including lunchtime rallies at Maimonides and Interfaith Medical Centers in Brooklyn.

Healthcare Needs All of Us is a campaign that aims to unite and mobilize Health Care Workers, providers, patients and allies to advocate for the dignity and respect that every family deserves.

New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) President Nancy Hagans said: “NYSNA is proud to be part of a Coalition that is fighting back to protect Our Immigrant Members and Co-Workers because it’s the right thing to do, and also because delivering quality care relies on having enough Staff. This (the Trump) Administration has shown through the so-called ‘One Bill Beautiful Bill’ that it is determined to dismantle health care funding and access to care for millions of people. Through its attacks on Immigrants, it’s now dismantling the workforce that delivers care.”

1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Senior Executive Vice President Nadine Williamson, who is leading the Immigration response at the Nation’s largest Health Care Union, said: “Five years ago, we were here at City Hall celebrating the heroism of Health Care Workers who served on the frontlines of the (Coronavirus) Pandemic. Today, we are here in the same spot because many of those same Caregivers who we honored are now experiencing unconscionable cruelty at the hands of the Trump Administration. Immigrant Workers who saved the lives of New Yorkers and who continue to save lives and provide quality care every single day are losing their ability to work, being forced into the shadows and forced to make impossible choices about keeping their families together. Our Health Care System is already reeling from the ($1 trillion) in Federal Medicaid cuts contained in the Republican Budget Bill. The attacks on Immigrants are making it even worse. We are demanding that Congress protect our communities by restoring health care funding by clawing back the billions of Medicaid dollars they took and gave to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and to give Dreamers a path to citizenship, and restore TPS (Temporary Protected Status).”

Nearly 20% of the United States’ Essential Caregivers and Providers in hospitals, nursing homes and home and community-based care were born outside the U.S..

Roughly one million hold legal work permissions that are being threatened under the Trump Administration, which has launched the largest de-documentation push in U.S. History.

The Coalition is standing up to protect the Health Care Workforce and access to safe, quality care for the Nation’s most vulnerable patients.

The Coalition's demands include: Immediately restoring legal status for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and other Immigrants, including by enacting the Senate Bill to extend TPS for Haitians (S4814); Enact a path to citizenship for all Immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for many years and meet other basic requirements (S. 2468/ HR 4696) and immediately create a path to citizenship for Dreamers and TPS holders by passing the Dream and Promise Act; End discriminatory travel bans and processing delays preventing qualified Immigrants from continuing to work lawfully or reaching the U.S.; and Claw back money being used for excessive and cruel deportation operations and use it to restore Federal health care cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Coalition includes both national and New York-based partners, including NYSNA, National Nurses United (NNU), SEIU, 1199 SEIU, the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) District Council 37, Community Change, Families USA, the Coalition on Human Needs, Moms Rising Together, Alianza Americas, Health Care for All New York, iAmerica, Metro New York Healthcare for All, Protect Our Care, and United We Dream Action.

To Read This Labor News Report In Its Entirety, Go To: Healthcare Coalition’s Day of Action Highlights Importance of Supporting Immigrant Healthcare Workers | New York State Nurses Association

Photo Courtesy Of NYSNA’s Facebook Page.