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The Internationalist
January 2026

Organize Against ICE Terror, Raids and Deportations – And to Defend the Rights of Us All

Health Care Workers Say:
No ICE in the Hospitals!

By the Labor Committee to Defend Immigrants, Health Care Workers Working Group

“Are you okay?” Those were the last words of our fellow health care worker Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Hospital, as he shielded a woman who had been shoved and pepper-sprayed by the marauding Border Patrol/ICE agents. In seconds, he was smashed into the ground – and shot to death by the federal agents. Videos show that they fired at least 10 times at his back.

Alex Pretti was videotap­ing an immigra­tion raid, as one among the thousands of “rapid respond­ers” who have so coura­geously come out to oppose the racist reign of terror in Minneapolis. All nurses unions should officially declare Alex Pretti to be a hero for health care workers, while heightening and intensifying the struggle demanding: No ICE / Border Patrol / DHS in hospitals or any health care facilities!

The murder of our union brother Alex Pretti was an execution by the DHS / ICE / Border Patrol Gestapo. The Trump administration’s torrent of lies cannot blot out what we have seen with our own eyes. It occurred one day after tens of thousands of Minnesota unionists, youth and community members marched demanding “ICE Out,” and many more nationwide joined marches in solidarity with them. Alex’s murder on the streets of Minne­apolis occurred 17 days after that of Renee Nicole Good, killed barely a mile away from where a Minnea­polis cop murdered George Floyd in 2020. And as we must never forget, it occurred after at least 32 immi­grants died last year in ICE custody, followed by growing num­bers in 2026, among them Geral­do Lunas Campos, whose death on January 3 in a Texas ICE dungeon has been ruled a homicide.

Speaking to a downtown Minneapolis rally on January 25, an immigrant activist noted that as an ICU nurse, “Alex Pretti spent his life saving the lives of others,” and was killed seeking to do the same the previous day. Across the country, health care workers have expressed horror, indignation and deter­mination to take action together.

Minneapolis, January 24: Memorial at location where ICE / Border Patrol murdered Alex Pretti. (LCDI photo)

On the picket line at Mount Sinai here in NYC, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) members, who are in their third week on strike against the greedy hospital barons, gathered to mourn brother Pretti and demand an end to ICE terror. For all labor, that demand must be put into practice, by bringing out workers power, and joined with the fight for victory to the NYSNA strike – Picket lines mean don’t cross.

Other health care workers unions have echoed members’ shock, sorrow and anger. The day of Pretti’s murder, National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in U.S. history, stated:

“The nation’s nurses, who make it their mission to care for and save human lives, are horrified and outraged that immigration agents have once again committed cold-blooded murder of a public observer who posed no threat to them. This time, they have executed one of our fellow nurses, Alex Pretti….”

NNU, whose affiliates include NYSNA, called a “week-long series of actions to honor Pretti and all who have been murdered by ICE,” saying: “ICE messed with the wrong profession.” Indeed they did.

Not only do nurses and other health care workers have a responsibility to defend our patients, many of whom are immigrants, but in New York State over a quarter of nurses are immigrants. It is crucial that we organize and fight collectively in defense of the rights of immigrants and the rights of us all, throughout the health care system and everywhere else.

The labor movement must “organize now to use its strength and numbers in the struggle to stop attacks on immigrant workers’ rights and the rights of us all. The fact that immigrants are a vital part of the working class is shown every day here in New York City, where people born in other countries make up 45% of the workforce. In NYC, immigrant workers have been central to building the labor movement and making our city a union town. Solidarity is key to our power – and it’s never been more needed than now. With the new administration building on the deportation record and structures ramped up by its predecessors, we can’t look to the government, police, courts or politicians of any capitalist party to protect immigrants. It is crucial to bring to bear the organized power of labor, and the principles of working-class solidarity, in defense of immigrant workers and their families”.

– From “Join the Labor Committee to Defend Immigrants,” January 2025.

Under the impact of current events, growing numbers of workers are seeking serious and well-organized ways to mobilize against the anti-immigrant offensive. In their contract negotiations, striking NYSNA nurses have sought to make the bosses establish protections and trainings on this issue, which execs have reportedly refused. While Demo­cratic politicians claim to support the strike, Governor Hochul is assisting the bosses’ scab-herding. Mayor Mamdani, who is now closely allied with her, came to the picket line but upped pressure on the union to “return to the bargaining table.”

The Labor Committee to Defend Immigrants (LCDI) was formed in early 2025, bringing to­gether activists from many unions and im­migrant rights groups. We organize to help bring labor’s independent class power into the fight to stop the raids and deportations and defeat the anti-immigrant onslaught, which spearheads the as­sault on the rights of all working people.

The LCDI’s Health Care Workers Working Group published the Immigrant Rights Defense Packet for Health Care Workers, organizes “Know Your Rights” trainings, promotes the formation of immigrant rights defense committees in unions and workplaces, and brings coworkers and fellow unionists out to many key protests and events. Today, with the murder of Alex Pretti, the ICE Gestapo seeks to intimidate and silence us all. They will not succeed! Instead, we redouble our commitment to fighting for the rights of immigrants and the whole working class.

From Minneapolis to NYC: ICE Out Now!