As nurses, our commitment is to safeguard health, dignity, and human life. We know that violence and fear have no place in professional care settings or within our communities, regardless of who perpetrates them. The Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) stands with the American Nurses Association’s call to action and refuses to normalize violence or fear under any circumstances.

We stand with the family, colleagues, and community grieving the death of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a registered nurse whose life was dedicated to caring for others.

As an ADN graduate of the registered nursing program at Minneapolis College, Alex represented the heart of associate degree nursing. His killing during a federal immigration enforcement operation is a profound tragedy that has deeply shaken the nursing profession and the public we serve.

In this already tense environment, community-based nursing education programs in Minnesota are facing real, immediate impacts that are compromising their educational progress and threatening the future nursing workforce in the state.

When policies and enforcement actions threaten safety, access to care, and the public’s trust, nurses have an ethical duty to speak out and demand change. Actions that place fear into our communities or compromise the sanctity of health care environments undermine the very foundations of safe, ethical, and effective care.

Congress must act. OADN urges nurses, health care leaders, and allies to contact their legislators and demand immediate action, including:

• An independent and transparent investigation into the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti.

• Full reform of federal immigration enforcement strategies that place enforcement activities within our communities and health care settings.

• An immediate end to federal immigration enforcement efforts that impede safe workplace environments, compromise the delivery of care, or breach HIPAA requirements.

• No further funding of federal immigration enforcement activities until robust congressional hearings and meaningful oversight are in place regarding the conduct of federal enforcement officers operating in communities and care settings.

OADN stands in solidarity with ANA and with nurses across the country in demanding accountability, safety, and respect for human dignity.

Sign the Call to Action: Protect Nurses, Patients, and Our Communities