Santa Cruz nurses organize actions during anti-ICE ‘national shutdown’ Friday

To protest against the recent killings of anti-ICE activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and all others killed in the custody of federal immigration authorities, nurses in Santa Cruz are hosting walkouts and vigils this week. 

Good was fatally shot Jan. 7 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse, was killed Saturday. Videos of ICE and Border Patrol agents shooting the victims quickly spread online and caused widespread outrage, leading to a range of actions organized by anti-ICE protesters across the country, including in Santa Cruz County. 

A national shutdown, scheduled for Friday, calls for people to participate in a “day of no school, no work and no shopping” to protest the killings by ICE. Nurses at Dominican Hospital and Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) have announced separate actions at their Santa Cruz County facilities that day. 

The Friday events are just a handful of many that have happened earlier this month and are scheduled further out. About two dozen Watsonville Community Hospital nurses held a vigil Wednesday evening and say they have no plans for a Friday action. On Saturday afternoon, a group of students plans to protest ICE at the Santa Cruz town clock.

PAMF health care workers are planning a walkout from noon to 1 p.m. Friday in front of the main clinic on Soquel Avenue. Kayce Ryberg, pediatric nurse practitioner at Palo Alto Medical Foundation, is a main organizer along with pediatric doctor Gwen Hubner and urgent care doctor Jill Lauren. Ryberg recalled a similar demonstration that Sutter held in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd, and wanted to do something similar. She expects between 30 and 50 PAMF employees to join the protest.

“We don’t abandon our patients, so we’re unable to do [a full strike], but we wanted to do something that felt meaningful, to express our advocacy, and recognize what’s happening in Minnesota,” said Ryberg. 

Ryberg said, beyond the recent killing of Pretti in Minneapolis, the Trump administration has caused widespread concern for many who work in pediatric medicine. That largely stems from changes to the vaccine schedule and the Centers for Disease Control’s vaccine advisory panel. Ryberg also said people avoiding health care out of fear of leaving home is becoming more common.

“A clinician colleague that works at Watsonville Community Hospital had mentioned they’re starting to see women forgo prenatal care” because they don’t want to risk being swept up in immigration actions, she said. “We are really trying to be aware of how we can support our patient population during this trying time.”

Nurses at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz will also be protesting ICE at 9 a.m. on Friday, according to the union that represents them, National Nurses United. They’ll be meeting on the sidewalk across from the hospital’s main entrance. Union officials said in a statement that “RNs are outraged” and are taking actions to “seek justice” for Pretti and demand that lawmakers reject funding for immigration enforcement agencies.

Additional actions

Denise Allen, a co-leader with Indivisible Santa Cruz County, said the group doesn’t have anything specific planned for Friday, but will be posting to its Facebook page about nearby opportunities for locals to get involved. She said Indivisible is planning to hold regular demonstrations on Mondays at the intersection of Ocean Street and Water Street in downtown Santa Cruz from roughly 4 to 6 p.m. 

“They have gotten bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and it’s a continuous way to express our outrage and dissent,” she said. 

Allen said the group will also be holding a demonstration on Saturday near the traffic island that separates Soquel Avenue and Water Street near Morrissey Avenue in Midtown. 

“We’re doing more of a celebration of democracy and all of the things we get, like freedom of speech, the right to assemble and more,” she said. “I think we’re probably going to have about 100 signs.”

Also Saturday, a group of students will meet at the Santa Cruz town clock from noon to 3 p.m. to demonstrate against ICE, according to local activist Omar Dieguez. 

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