Equipped with a microphone and a message, Huron senior Julia Brinker stood facing a crowd of around 150 students under Huron’s arch at 1:10 p.m. yesterday.
“School is for education, not deportation!” she said, as the crowd chanted back.
In response to an increase in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids throughout the U.S. following the election of President Donald Trump, the Huron’s Latino Student Union and Huron Students Demand Action orchestrated a walkout to protest and spread awareness.
“I come from an immigrant family,” said Brinker, who organized the walkout. “I have people in my life that are illegal or were illegal. I know how hard it is to get residency or citizenship. [This] personally affects me and will affect the world that I live in in the future.”
ICE’s purpose is to enforce immigration laws, which often means arresting, detaining, and deporting undocumented people. In just over a month of his presidency, the Trump administration has detained over 20,000 people, with the number growing every day. ICE activity in the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit areas have also been confirmed in recent weeks.
“The beliefs and the values of the Trump Administration are instilling a completely new level of fear in people,” senior Selene Koremenos-Tsebelis said. “That’s why, ultimately we decided to walk out.”
During the walkout, students passed out slips of paper put together by U.S. representative Sylvia Garcia, detailing how to assert your rights when in a situation dealing with ICE, titled “KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.”
“I just feel like it’s really important for students to be able to know and feel empowered, and know that these feelings of fear and anger are validated,” Koremenos-Tsebelis said.
Frustration arising on the local and national level stem from the flow of new Immigration policies; subsequential ICE raids have heightened the fear. Policies that give ICE leeway to deport immigrants include the National Emergency Declaration, Termination of Birthright Citizenship, and the Use of Guántanamo Bay for Migrant Detention, all were implemented in the wake of Trump’s presidency.
“[Schools and hospitals] are places that you’re supposed to feel safe in,” Brinker said. “But because of [policies] that were passed, these are not safe places anymore.”
After school, the Huron administration sent a message informing families of the walkout.
“At Huron High School, we support our students in exercising their voices in ways that reflect our core values of safety, responsibility, and mutual respect,” the email said. “We encourage our students to be well-informed about the issues they advocate for, to consider diverse perspectives, and to engage in meaningful discussions about the broader context of current events.”
With backing from students and admin alike, twenty-three individuals spoke at the walkout.
“For too long, ICE has wielded its power without restraint, detaining, deporting and destroying lives in the process,” said junior Mike Yimer to the crowd. “ICE does not protect. ICE does not serve. ICE does not stand for justice.”
