Gold Star father Khzir Khan addresses NUHW members in Anaheim
Gold Star father Khizr Khan delivered an emotional keynote address to the NUHW Leadership Conference Saturday, October 22, praising members for their work on behalf of patients and their stand as a Sanctuary Union.
“Your work is sacred work; You are the custodians of our nation’s values,” he told the approximately 400 health care workers assembled this weekend in Anaheim.
Khan, an immigrant from Pakistan, achieved notoriety last year when he pulled out a pocket constitution during a speech to the Democratic National Convention, while condemning Donald Trump’s call to put a ban on Muslim immigration.
Khan commended NUHW for pledging to defend members facing deportation. “How dare we forget grievance Number Seven of the Declaration of Independence, which demanded freedom of immigration,” he said.
One day earlier, at a dinner with NUHW members, Khan autographed his just-published memoir “An American Family,” and told members to “Never underestimate your impact, the value of your teamwork, your energy, your dedication, you are the story of the greatness of America.”
NUHW member Catherine Ewing, of Huntington Beach, told the Orange County Register that she was inspired by Khan’s speech and his effort to unite Americans behind their shared democratic values.
“People like him are heroes,” she told the paper. “He felt fear, but he went and (spoke at the convention) for the greater good.”
After his speech Saturday, Khan talked to reporters, who asked him about the furor over President Trump’s handling of a recent call with the widow of a slain solider. Khan lamented the loss of civility in American political discourse, and chose not to directly criticize Trump, noting that the soldier’s burial was scheduled for Saturday. “I wish to honor that,” he said. “I wish to pay my highest respect, my highest regard for the family.”