On Jan. 30, a nationwide protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (known as ICE) took place where students abruptly left their campus to voice their objections against ICE and what they do to people in the United States. Students have staged and planned these walkouts for the past month to reject the federal immigrant enforcement tactics currently used.
With recent events involving ICE forces, even students began protesting and voicing their opinions. The distasteful things that ICE does with its power go over the heads of most adults in the U.S., so students felt the need to step up and have their views be seen. They walked out of their schools and proceeded to walk around their city carrying signs that belittled ICE and expressing their thoughts as a group.
The issues that really set the protests into motion were the situation that had occurred in Minnesota. Two people were shot and killed by ICE agents, sending people into an angry state all over the country and the media. Complaints and confrontations from citizens put the government in a hard spot, yet they continued to defend the agents for their actions. The government wouldn’t listen to the adults speaking about these issues, so the students decided to step up.
These protests from students ended up becoming one of the largest national walkouts and forced many people to shift attention to them. It wasn’t just high schools from one area but many from all over the country. These walkouts were presented as the voices of the students who wanted to go against the recent actions of the Federal Immigration Enforcement.
Parents were upset by the action and blamed the teachers for forcing the students into their political battles. They believed that allowing this to happen was wrong and that it was compromising the safety of their children. Many parents heard about the protests before or during the actual occurrence, making them even more upset by the idea of it.
They saw this as a situation where their children were being put in unnecessary danger and they weren’t completely wrong. A man had gotten into a fight with a group of students and was caught on video pushing one of the minors. A female student from Moe and Gene Johnson High School had gotten into a verbal argument with a man in his truck. It turned into a large altercation where the girl had been shoved to the floor and other students were yelling and rushing to defend her. There were no serious injuries but parents are still upset at the idea that this occurred during school hours.
While many students could have been or were put into dangerous situations with these protests, it was still important that they happened. The minors of the U.S. are stepping up to fight the adults’ battle and it is working in opening their eyes to their opinions. This issue will force the government to acknowledge the current ICE situation and take proper control in trying to make a change to the way things have been running.
