A nurse from San Francisco is currently at the center of a debate over immigration policies, as her employment at Kaiser Permanente is in jeopardy due to federal delays impacting her Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.
This 34-year-old surgical nurse, originally from the Philippines, has lived in the U.S. since she was two. She now faces the threat of losing her job due to a delay in renewing her DACA work authorization. The DACA program is designed to shield undocumented individuals who arrived as children from deportation while granting them renewable work permits every two years.
On Monday, a demonstration of support took place outside Kaiser, where healthcare workers gathered, chanting, “Do the right thing, Kaiser. Do the right thing,” to advocate for the nurse.
According to Sydney Simpson, a registered nurse who addressed the rally, the nurse is at risk of termination on Thursday because of delays in processing her DACA paperwork, a situation attributed to actions by the previous administration.
The nurse’s colleagues are appealing to Kaiser to grant an extension on her 30-day unpaid administrative leave, allowing time for her documentation to be completed.
“We’re not asking Kaiser to pay her. Just keep her on unpaid leave,” Simpson said and added, “If she were a nurse at the UC system, that’s what they would do. She would stay on unpaid leave until her paperwork comes through. But Kaiser is not negotiating. They’re not budging. We have sent them letters.”
Data from ABC affiliate KGO team found that as of March of 2025, there were more than 16,000 active DACA recipients in the Bay Area, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
Advocates say processing delays have grown significantly. San Francisco’s Central American Resource Center is seeing DACA delays of up to five months.
“Processes and applications, that took about three weeks, to get approved are now taking months, many months. What we’re seeing is that many of the work authorization documents are expiring before a recipient, but the beneficiaries are getting, an approval notice,” said Lariza Dugan-Cuadra, executive director of the Central American Resource Center.
Bill Hing, a professor of law and migration studies at UC San Francisco, said employers such as Kaiser Permanente face difficult legal questions in cases like this.
“I think that Kaiser can argue I’m not breaking the law that doesn’t allow me to employ unauthorized workers if I’m acting in good faith. Okay. Are they violating a labor law if they let somebody go who does not have an employment authorization document? I think that they are treading on dangerous territory because DACA recipients historically have been getting renewals,” Hing said.
Hing added that some employers may fear scrutiny from the federal government.
“If Kaiser decides to continue hiring somebody without a valid employment authorization document, they do risk the Trump administration coming in and doing an audit. And so will they be fined for doing this? In my opinion, it all depends on whether or not a judge determines that Kaiser was acting in good faith or not,” he said.
For the nurse at the center of the case, supporters say the outcome could determine whether she can continue working in the profession she has held for years, as broader delays continue to affect thousands of DACA recipients across the region.
Carecen’s executive director is encouraging DACA recipients to plan ahead, “to make sure that they’re applying for renewal six months in advance, given the lags,” said Dugan-Cuadra.
We reached out to Kaiser for comment and did not receive a response at the time of this report.
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