California students unite in protest against immigration enforcement with statewide walkouts
Thousands of students from middle school to college across California have participated in anti-immigration enforcement walkouts since January, when two people were killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, sparking outrage and demonstrations.
Despite warnings from some school officials about possible disciplinary measures, including suspensions and enforcement of curfew laws, students across the state have organized their own protests and walkouts. They’ve rallied under the “ICE Out” slogan, coordinating demonstrations to condemn what they described as a sweeping mass deportation campaign. Their latest statewide walkout is planned for Friday.
Gabrielle Trujillo, a sophomore at UCLA and reporter for the campus’s “La Gente” magazine, was among more than 1,000 students who participated in a walkout on Jan. 28.
“Everyone was united in that we were pretty fed up with how ICE was treating both American citizens, undocumented people and everyone, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity or immigration status,” Trujillo said. “It’s a very real thing that we, as university students, as kind of the moral compass of the country, we definitely felt like we could be the next victims, that we could be the next people that are gunned down for exercising our First Amendment rights.”
Students from the Los Angeles Unified School District to Clovis Unified in the Central Valley have organized walkouts this month.
Justin Eli Santos, a senior at Northridge Academy High School, said increased ICE presence makes his family afraid to leave home.
“They value us less as humans, and it’s unacceptable,” Santos said. “My father is an immigrant. My mother grew up in an immigrant household. I’ve seen the fear in their eyes just going outside, and the fear they have for our people. No one out here should be afraid to be outside.”
Consequences of walking out
The walkouts have prompted a range of responses from school administrators and police departments. While some schools have threatened students with suspension of student privileges, others have encouraged students’ right to peaceful protest.
A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said in a statement that the district is worried about student safety and outlined how students can better protect themselves.
“Los Angeles Unified supports the rights of our students to express themselves and to advocate for causes that are important to them,” the district said in the statement. “Students may participate in peaceful demonstrations during non-instructional times, within parameters established by site administrators to ensure safety and minimize disruption to learning.”
The Los Angeles Police Department released a Feb. 17 statement warning that students who participate in walkouts and parents who support them may face legal consequences for violating daytime curfews.
Nearly 200 students walked out of schools in Clovis Unified and Fresno Unified on Feb. 10 in protest of ICE, according to the Fresno Bee.
CUSD and the Clovis Police Department released a joint statement, stating that adults who support students walking out of school place minors at risk and interfere with their education.
The statement added that CUSD will enforce truancy for all students who participate in walkouts and do not follow the proper sign-out procedures in line with California Education Code Section 48205(A)(B), which permits a middle or high school student to be excused from one day during a school year for civic engagement only if the school receives advance notice and the student is signed out by a parent or guardian.
Clovis police also said in the statement that the department plans to file misdemeanor charges against two adults who allegedly encouraged students to walk out and are working to identify others for contributing to the delinquency of a minor under California Penal Code Section 272.
“Adults must understand that using or encouraging students to leave school during instructional hours violates the law, disrupts their education, and without supervision jeopardizes their safety,” the press release stated.
Kelly Avants, CUSD’s chief communications officer, said that while CUSD values free speech, students should find ways to express their opinions and prioritize their education. She added that there are specific guidelines students must follow when practicing free speech on campus.
“During the school day, it is our hope and expectation that students interested in respectfully expressing their opinion on a topic do so in this environment during a break from class or a lunch period,” Avants said.
A.J. Kato, communications manager at Fresno Unified School District, said that FUSD can keep students from harm when they protest on campus rather than have them leave the school to demonstrate.
“We are proud of our students who have chosen to host rallies on campus rather than walking out,” Kato said.
Protesting for change
what they are saying
“We are the youth, we are young, we should be definitely the first one on the field, the battlefield.”
— Diego Cadallero, 17, junior, Birmingham Charter High School
“I’m just hoping that these protests can help stop [ICE] in some way, you know, even if it’s just a little bit, at least we’re out here doing something.”
— Karla Vences, 17, sophomore, Birmingham Charter High School
“I believe that this is the best way to start doing our political activism as Americans, and to really show that we could create change, and we could power simply by using our own voice.”
— Darianna Rosas Cuevas, senior, Geffen Academy at UCLA
“I’m scared because I was like, ‘I don’t want you to leave, like this is where you built your life, you had an American dream, you had hopes,’”
— Naghelly Lopez, 5th year, UCLA
“Immigrants do so many good things for America, but [people] only see the bad. We’re working people. My mom works hard. My dad works hard, as well. Sometimes they work under the table to make even less than minimum wage. Without immigrants, where would we be? We’d probably be way behind right now.”
— Ethan Ruiz, senior, Northridge Academy High School
California State University campuses were the site of several student-led protests and walkouts against ICE, most recently Feb. 3 at CSU Northridge, where hundreds of students gathered for an “ICE out of 818” demonstration.
Alejandro Guzmán, CSUN’s associate vice president for strategic communication and brand management, said the campus values students’ right to exercise their voices.
“Student activism, civic engagement and dynamic dialogue are core to our educational mission, reinforcing our public university’s commitment to constitutional principles and developing engaged citizens,” Guzmán said.
Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval, a Chicana and Chicano studies professor at UC Santa Barbara, said that the current suppression of student protest is a direct parallel to the Chicano movement from the 1960s and 1980s, when officers had beaten and arrested students and adults protesting for equality.
“You guys are standing in a rich tradition of people who [began to fight] in 1984 against [what would become] Proposition 187, and just like the students in 1968 in East L.A. who stood up and fought back as well,” Armbruster-Sandoval said.
Getting organized
Social media has become a major tool that students use to organize protests. An online review reveals various unofficial social media accounts created for schools and districts like San Fernando Valley, Irvine and Los Angeles. Once students from a school share a post about an upcoming protest, students from other campuses may join in, spreading the social media reach. Students from other campuses who became aware of nearby school protests frequently reach out to participate.
Multiple social media accounts are currently promoting another statewide walkout planned for Friday at 1 p.m. as part of California Youth Unite, a coalition of multiple social justice organizations across the state. The Reclamation Project, a student and youth-led organization with CYU, announced it will host a rally at the state capitol in Sacramento at 4:30 p.m.
The Sacramento Police Department said it will evaluate infractions by student protesters and parents who allow their children to participate on a case-by-case basis, with the primary goal of ensuring safety at the Friday protest.
“During demonstrations, our role is to ensure public safety while safeguarding the rights of individuals to peacefully assemble and lawfully express their views,” said Anthony Gamble, a Sacramento Police Department public information officer. “The protection of life and property remains a core responsibility, and we will take appropriate action and hold those who break the law accountable.”
Celine Qin, a 19-year-old student at Stanford University and founder and executive director of The Reclamation Project, said the movement, in partnership with California Youth Unite, aims to elevate youth demands for the defunding and abolition of ICE.
“We know this is going to take a long process. What this one day aims to signify is that young people in this generation are committed to this cause,” Qin said. “We’re not stopping on Friday, we’re not ending the conversation here. This rally is a marker to a start of different things.”
