PATIENTS NEED THEIR DOCTORS: SUPPORT ALL IMMIGRANT PHYSICIANS

Our community, our patients, and our hospitals are in urgent need of more healthcare providers, not less. 

But on March 13, 2025, the U.S. government unjustly deported our friend and colleague, Dr. Rasha Alawieh, leaving hundreds of patients in New England without their kidney transplant specialist.

Immigrant doctors, like Dr. Alawieh, play an important role in our healthcare systems. With the U.S. projected to face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, the State of Rhode Island is increasingly relying on our visa holders to provide critical care to our patients. 

Doctors, no matter where they're from, are an integral part of our communities.

And our union understands that an injury to one is an injury to all.

We recognize that the Trump Administration's persecution of immigrants, like Dr. Alawieh, is not just an attack on individual visa holders–it is an attack on a fellow worker, a deterrent to future immigrant physicians, and a detriment to our patients and our communities.


Dr. Alawieh is an empathetic and respected physician. In the eyes of her patients, she is a compassionate healthcare provider who has provided our community with critical, high-quality care.

She's stood by her patients, her community, and her colleagues, and it's our turn to stand up for her.

We, the unionized physicians of Brown University Health and Care New England, represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents-SEIU, are calling on our fellow healthcare professionals and our communities to stand with us in condemnation of Dr. Alawieh's deportation and to stand up in defense of immigrants and visa holders across our country.

We, the undersigned union members, allied healthcare professionals, and community supporters, demand the U.S. Government to rescind Dr. Alawieh's removal order and allow her back in the country to continue her important work of providing crucial healthcare to our community.

In Solidarity,
The CIR-SEIU physicians of Brown University Health and Care New England

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Based on a recent upsurge in viewpoint-based targeting, visa holders may want to consider the possible risks associated with signing this petition.