AAHN Position Statement on Immigrants and Asylum Seekers

July 2019 - As historians of nursing and healthcare, we advocate compassionate care for all refugees seeking asylum in the United States, and all immigrants searching for a better life in America. Nurses have a long history of remaining neutral in conflict and treating all people with dignity and respect. Those principles should be applied now. The situation at the southern border of the United States—a country dedicated to “liberty and justice for all” -- is a humanitarian crisis demanding a competent and compassionate response. It could also turn into a public health crisis. The AAHN adamantly opposes the conditions of the government facilities in which children are being kept without access to proper food, clothing, fresh air, and basic hygiene products -- in some instances separated from their biological parents or denied travel to relatives in the United States.  We call on the U.S. government to send more nurses and qualified healthcare providers to the border to address this crisis. Nurses have brought order out of chaos in the past and can do so again.