“Say it loud, say it clear, immigrants are welcome here!”
This was just one of many chants that were passionately shouted out by Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS) students on the morning of Friday, February 13, when scores of them walked out of their classrooms and to the front of the school to protest for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It’s a government organization the students see ripping hundreds of families apart throughout the country. The walkout was organized by a student-led group named Students Against ICE (SAI) in collaboration with the Student Government Association. The walkout was part of a nationwide protest scheduled by an organization named Dare to Struggle.
With the brimming need to protest, two students, Divine Anamara and Axel Ramos Diaz, both juniors and co-leaders of SAI, created a group chat to which they invited other students who also felt outraged by ICE’s actions. They had all seen other high school protests around the county, which inspired them to do the same at Eleanor Roosevelt. Nmesomachi Agoh, another junior and co-leader of SAI, reported that in a poll conducted to measure interest in the walkout, 372 students signed their names. “And then me and [Divine] said ‘okay, if we’re really serious about this, then let’s do something,’” said Diaz. “If they’re doing it, why not us?”
As the group grew, they began to organize themselves by selecting leaders and designating roles for members who would participate in the walkout. Eventually, this group would adopt the name Students Against ICE.
During the walkout, Latino music like bachata and reggaeton could be heard from a stereo. The walkout was meant to both highlight the injustice immigrants endure and celebrate Latino culture, the demographic most affected by ICE’s recent misconduct. There is no doubt in this claim, as a report published by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs states that “Latinos accounted for nine out of 10 ICE arrests.”
During the protest, students were given the space to share their own or someone else’s experiences with ICE, and many spoke up to condemn ICE for abusing its power, as it has in the cases of Reneé Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens who were killed by ICE agents, along with the case of Kilmar Abrégo Garcia, of neighboring Beltsville, a documented immigrant with no criminal record, previously taken into custody by ICE due to racial profiling.
Asked why SAI decided to protest, Violet Ridge, a junior at ERHS and a co-leader of SAI said, “Nothing we’re seeing in our world is right. And we aren’t seeing enough people stand up to it … so you gotta do what you gotta do.” Anamara said, “We can’t let this continue to happen because if we let it go on, then it’s not going to get better.”
“We are the future, and it has always been important that you speak up,” added Kasiye Woubeshet, who is also a co-leader and junior. “If you’re silent and you’re apathetic, and even if you do care but you’re not doing anything, that is still [being complicit],” said Woubeshet. When asked if they knew anyone who had experiences with ICE, Anamara, Diaz and Ridge all recalled stories of relatives or people they knew who had been taken by ICE.
“You would think that ‘oh, this wouldn’t happen to me’ but it can happen to you,” Anamara explained. Woubeshet then described the fear and lack of safety immigrants experience daily: “This isn’t right, this isn’t how it should be.”
Though the protesters were not able to show their signs directly toward local roads, they still proudly held their signs up high and took pictures of their peers with their signs to spread their message on social media. A few of those pictures can be found in this article, and the rest can be found @studentsagainstice_, which is the official account on Instagram and main point of contact with members of SAI.
Students’ Suggestions
Students Against ICE gave the following suggestions for immigration reform: a clearer pathway to citizenship; more exposure to classes for the citizenship test to increase accessibility; making citizenship affordable through financial aid programs for undocumented immigrants who cannot afford the process of naturalization; and access to due process for the hundreds now held in detention centers who have been detained without a warrant. Though undocumented immigrants are not citizens, it is still their right to be given a fair and just trial, say the student leaders, who want to see ICE’s power restricted. With the way ICE abuses its power daily, there should be more limits to protect the victims targeted and more accountability for ICE agents’ violence toward victims, they argue. They anxiously wait for action to be taken against ICE, as every day new cases are added to its agents’ already long list of immoral behavior.
Plea from the Youth
The students ask that Governor Wes Moore continue to support and protect Maryland’s immigrant communities and demand that the federal government abolish ICE, especially when the tax dollars currently funding it can go to more important departments, such as education and healthcare, which have suffered significant losses in funding under the Trump Administration. Until then, our youth will continue to protest for a better future for themselves and for others.
Ashlyn Calderon is a student at ERHS writing for the Greenbelt News Review.
