‘ICE out’ of St. Joseph Medical Center

Healthcare workers and community groups are organizing against ICE agents’ presence at the hospital and profound medical neglect at the Northwest Detention Center

TACOMA, WA (May 29, 2026) — Healthcare workers and community organizers are calling for action to prevent serious medical neglect at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) and an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) presence at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.

St. Joseph has a contract with the private prison company, GEO Group, that operates NWDC, serving as the medical facility where detained people are brought when they need care for serious illnesses. Immigrant rights groups Tanggol Migrante, International Migrant Alliance, and others are shining a light on how that agreement plays out in practice, lifting up the stories of healthcare workers trying to provide care to patients arriving at St. Joseph after medical neglect at NWDC. Those patients are often kept shackled to their hospital beds and under constant surveillance by ICE agents, violating patient privacy rights and forcing healthcare workers to work in close proximity to untrained, armed federal agents.

This pipeline of medical neglect is profoundly concerning to healthcare workers. A recent lawsuit filed by the state of Washington to compel health inspections at NWDC was met with support by the Washington State Nurses Association, which represents thousands of nurses statewide, including nurses at St. Joseph.

A sign carried during the 2026 May Day march in Seattle. Photo: The STAND

“For nurses, this moment is not only about legal authority—it is about human dignity, ethical responsibility, and the protection of fundamental human rights,” said the Washington State Nurses Association in a statement supporting the state’s lawsuit. “The Code of Ethics for Nurses is clear in situations such as this: Nurses must practice with ‘compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and unique attributes of every person.’ Nurses also are obligated to ‘advocate for and protect the rights, health, and safety of patients and populations.’ The continued refusal to allow inspections—despite court affirmation of the state’s authority—represents not only a legal failure, but a profound violation of basic human rights.”

To support efforts to bar ICE from St. Joseph and end medical neglect at NWDC, organizers have been collecting testimonials from nurses at St. Joseph, detailing their experiences providing care for patients coming from the detention center.

An instagram post from community groups advocating for Filipino nationals and all individuals in ICE detention.

In a social media post sharing these testimonials, one healthcare worker noted that ICE’s presence while patients from the NWDC receive care deprives these patients of their dignity as they are watched and followed wherever they go. Another testimonial shared that ICE keeps sick and vulnerable patients chained to beds; a workplace complaint in 2025 detailed this practice, including an instance where an ICE agent locked shackles so tightly around a patient’s wrist that the restraints caused nerve damage.

Other testimonials highlight how ICE’s presence in their workplace creates difficult and dangerous working conditions.

Per one nurse: “I was not educated [by the hospital administration] on the protocol for ICE and detained patients. We continue to work and be coerced to turn a blind eye to the atrocities committed to vulnerable immigrants. [ICEl are not trained at all. An ICE agent left a gun in our restroom. It’s a restroom that both visitors and workers use.”

With ICE’s documented history of violent, racially-motivated immigration enforcement, agent’s presence in the hospital understandably raises concerns about healthcare workers’ safety on the job as well as impacts to other patients and their families.

Immigrant advocacy groups are running a petition, with certain key demands. They’re calling for ICE to be removed from St. Joseph Medical Center, for ICE agents to stop interfering with patient care, and for the medical facility to release the text of the contract between  St. Joseph and NWDC so workers and community members have full information about the nature of that relationship. They’re also pushing for health inspections at NWDC, an end to medical neglect at the facility, and for people detained to be released for medical care. And they’re urging elected officials to take action to investigate NWDC and shut down private detention centers, whose profits are built on human rights abuses.