Outpouring of support for Michigan nurse prosecuted for helping immigrant escape Border Patrol Gestapo

6 October 2026facebook iconChloe Freeman, a Michigan registered nurse formerly employed by Trinity Health Ann Arbor, is being prosecuted by the federal government for helping an injured immigrant escape from the Border Patrol Gestapo. Her courageous act of working class solidarity has generated an outpouring of support from fellow workers.

A GoFundMe page was set up for Freeman, organized by the mother of one of her friends. Hundreds of donations have poured in, and the page has so far raised over $31,000 of the $35,000 it sought. Donors have expressed their support for Freeman on the GoFundMe page with messages of solidarity. Readers can contribute to the fundraiser supporting Freeman here.

On May 28, 2026, Freeman helped an immigrant patient, who suffered injuries attempting to flee from immigration agents, to leave Trinity Health and escape his jailers. On August 28, a criminal complaint against her was filed in the Eastern District of Michigan. If convicted, she faces up to a year in prison. A Preliminary Examination is currently scheduled for October 20.

According to the criminal complaint, Border Patrol agents were conducting a “targeted immigration enforcement operation” in Ann Arbor against a Mexican worker identified in the complaint only by the initials “OBP.” As the man fled, he tripped over a curb, fell and struck his face on the pavement.

Immigration agents took the man into custody and transported him to Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital for a CT scan. There, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Freeman entered the CT room, removed the man’s IV and escorted him out through the ambulance bay doors. Security footage shows him leaving the hospital shortly after Freeman retrieved him. He has not been located since.

For this act of human compassion and working class solidarity, Freeman is being prosecuted by the federal government for “instigating or assisting escape.” She is, in fact, the target of a political prosecution aimed at intimidating any worker who seeks to defend immigrants from state persecution.

On the GoFundMe page, Rocio Adriana Lopez wrote, “Chloe, as a local, I stand with you and applaud your humanity. The laws and those in charge will tell you that you’re a criminal, but you’re a hero. #goodtrouble.”

Rob Bridges stated, in part, “Chloe, you did nothing wrong. Does anyone really believe ICE when they say this man tripped and fell, causing his injuries?”

Daniela Rodrigues said, “I hope to become as good of a nurse as you one day.” Alec Ferris wrote, “Minnesota RNs stand with you.” Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis resident who was murdered by Border Patrol agents following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) murder of Renée Nicole Good, was a Veterans Administration nurse.

On Reddit, an October 1 post titled “Friends, Pay Attention to the Feds,” spoke strongly in support of Freeman and received dozens of comments in support. One passage from the post stated:

Let’s be clear about what nursing is. We advocate for our patients, not for any agency, administration, or political agenda. Our license is a promise to the person in the bed: to act in good faith, practice with excellence, and honor their goals. It was never a promise to serve as anyone’s guard, jailer, or informant. We already carry more than our share. We’re short-staffed, underpaid, and asked to be everything at once. Now we’re expected to be immigration enforcement too? No. That is not our job, and I refuse to pretend it should be. Let us stop pretending “deportation” is a neutral word. We’ve all seen what detention looks like right now. A nurse who refuses to deliver a patient into that deserves our backing, not our silence.

The support for Freeman from workers stands in sharp contrast to the silence of the Democrats and the trade union bureaucracy. No prominent Democratic Party politician has made a public statement about Freeman’s case, including “progressives” such as Abdul el-Sayed and Bernie Sanders and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members such as Zohran Mamdani, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Similarly, no labor union, including unions in the healthcare field, has released a public statement of support.

Can you explain what rank-and-file committees are and give examples of how they've been organized independently of unions in other struggles?How has the Democratic Party's role in building the deportation machine evolved historically, from Clinton and Obama-era policies through today?Ask more questions at SocialismAI.comThis silence is no mistake. The Democratic Party helped construct and fund the deportation machine and has maneuvered with President Donald Trump and the Republican Party to expand funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), while placing no restrictions on their police state operations. The union apparatuses, integrated into the state and the corporations, have no interest in mobilizing workers in defense of democratic rights. Their true function is to contain and demobilize the anger and opposition of the working class, of which the support for Nurse Freeman is one expression.

Freeman’s principled stand in support of immigrant workers and the support for her from fellow workers must take an organized and collective form. This means the establishment of rank-and-file committees, independent of the big business parties and the trade union bureaucracy, in every hospital, workplace and neighborhood. The demands must be raised:

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