PORTLAND — Members of the Maine State Nurses Association gathered outside Maine Medical Center in Portland on Wednesday to call for the release of a colleague detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
Deborah Kapisha, a registered nurse who works at Maine Medical Center, was detained by ICE while traveling through Boston Logan Airport on Friday, according to the union.
The union says Kapisha is legally authorized to live and work in the U.S. while she waits for her asylum case from Zambia to be processed.
“She's the kind of person who notices when someone is struggling and steps in to help without hesitation or expectation of recognition,” said Abbey Nelson, a registered nurse who works with Kapisha. “Nurses like her are not easy to replace, and the patients, the community, we’re all feeling her loss.”
Initially, the union said ICE was going to transfer Kapisha to Louisiana on Wednesday. However, the union said she is no longer set to be transferred from Massachusetts.
MaineHealth nurses are in the midst of two other protests as well. They’ve been calling for the company to cut its ties with Palantir, the AI software development company that’s been facing backlash for assisting federal agencies, including ICE. The nurses have also been fighting the closure of a birthing unit in Damariscotta, saying without the unit, rural families may have to travel for over an hour for care.
But on Wednesday, the group’s focus was on pressuring MaineHealth to sponsor Kapisha’s green card. Several nurses spoke at the protest, and several politicians called for Kapisha’s release as well, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree, Portland City Councilor Wes Pelletier and Maine state Rep. Deqa Dhalac.
“Can you even imagine that an employer that relies on its nurses to keep this place running every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, every day of every year, would turn its back on one of its own nurses, who is about to be flown thousands of miles from here, from her family and from her job,” said Janel Crowley, a registered nurse and steward for MSNA.
In a statement, MaineHealth said it’s reaching out to Maine’s congressional delegation for more information about the detention of Kapisha. It said it received no notification that she was detained, and that “all individuals who come to work at MaineHealth are thoroughly vetted to assure they are authorized to reside and work in the United States.”
In a statement to Spectrum News, an unnamed U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson wrote, in part: "“Kapisha entered our country on May 14, 2024, on a visa that was set to expire on November 13, 2024. She failed to depart before this date in violation of our nation’s immigration laws. She will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of her removal proceedings. She will receive full due process."