Hundreds of protestors, including healthcare workers, union members and supporters, rallied Monday at Oakland, Calif.-based Highland Hospital against the impending deportation of Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, RN, and her husband, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.
Ms. Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband are in the country illegally and face deportation to Mexico this week unless a reprieve is granted, according to the report. Their U.S.-born son would travel with them to Mexico, while their older daughters, who are in the country legally, would remain in America.
Some protesters Monday held signs reading "Hands off Maria." Delvecchio Finley, CEO of the hospital's operator, Alameda (Calif.) Health System, spoke out against the impending deportation of Ms. Mendoza-Sanchez, who has worked at the hospital two years, reports San Francisco Chronicle.
"We are an organization of caregivers," he told rally participants. "So witnessing this situation befall a member of our community has been extremely difficult for many of her co-workers, managers and executives. And for me personally. AHS values diversity and depends upon people of various backgrounds, many of them, like Maria, immigrants or children of immigrants, to provide care in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the country.
"We want a system that affords hardworking immigrants the opportunity to achieve the American dream."
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said immigration courts thoroughly reviewed the family's case and that "neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S.," according to the report. No reprieve was granted as of Monday afternoon.