National Nurses United condemns Trump’s unhinged political and racist attack on Rep. Omar

The nation's largest union of registered nurses issued the following statement, in response to the federal government's raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar's home, confiscating her possessions, and reports of attempting to strip her of her citizenship:

Trump's use of state power to try and silence political opposition is fascism. The lengths to which the Trump administration is going to target Rep. Ilhan Omar, who has been an outspoken opponent of the president in her role as a champion for working people and immigrants, is a clear abuse of power and should urgently mobilize all people who value our democracy.

As the midterm elections get closer, nurses are letting our patients and our communities know that our democracy is coding. In just the past two years, Trump has crossed red line after red line. He has cancelled the union contracts of VA nurses and tens of thousands of federal workers. He has slashed nearly $1 trillion from health care spending that will result in millions losing insurance and their local hospitals to pad the wallets of his billionaire donors and fund endless wars. He has unleashed armed federal agents into our streets and terrorized our immigrant communities, tearing apart families and sending our neighbors to concentration camps where they are abused while prison corporations profit.

In addition to attacking Rep. Omar for her vocal opposition to his administration's actions, he is targeting her for being a brown immigrant woman. Nurses respect and uphold the human dignity of each person, period. Trump and his administration instead espouse a white supremacist order of society where Black and brown immigrants are dehumanized, vilified, otherized, and scapegoated. This ideology again, reinforces fascist techniques of dividing and controlling the public.

Trump's heinous actions against Rep. Omar are among the dozens of power grabs inflicted against Americans, which not only cause immediate suffering for hard-working people, but also threaten the very ability of working people to shape their futures. While Trump goes after his political enemies, Americans are struggling to put food on the table, cover their medical bills, and build better futures.

National Nurses United will be in this fight with Rep. Omar against these baseless attacks. Nurses will also remain vigilant as the midterms approach to ensure free and fair elections. If Trump and his backers interfere with the midterm elections, union nurses are prepared to work together with allied groups to restore our democracy through mass acts of peaceful civil disobedience, protest, and strikes.