Tacoma, WA: IDEA high school students walk out to protest ICE presence

By Sterling Peel and Aristeidis Pahoundis

Tacoma, WA – On January 12, students at IDEA High School walked out of class to stand up against ICE in their community. Over 100 students marched to a busy intersection and then continued to circle the intersection marching in the crosswalks as passing drivers honked their horns in support.

the students carried signs and chanted together “ICE out! We won’t go!” as they marched through the crosswalks. When the students returned to the school an hour later, they rallied again on the sidewalk in front of the building expressing their solidarity. This happened in the face of the administration telling them to stay off of school property.

When asked why the students are taking to the streets, Mathilda Cousin said, “I hate ICE, and I hate what they are doing with people. It’s awful! They are taking people who are legal citizens, and they are trying to deport them for no reason.” Mathilda continued, “I come from a mixed cultural background and just thinking about if ICE tried to deport someone that I love, I hate that! And knowing that that has happened to people, I want to stand with them.”

When asked how students are affected by ICE, Roberto Damian Camacho said, “I’m here to protest ICE. It affects me because it’s killing my people who did nothing wrong, and it’s affecting my other people who don’t feel safe to roam the streets anymore.”

Alexander Jacob-Michael Gillis said, “They deported my niece, who is a 9-year-old girl. She’s from here. She was born in California, and they deported her all the way ‘back’ to Thailand even though she’s not from there.” Alexander continued, “Our leaders aren’t doing anything about this. They say they are, but I have seen no action so far. All I’ve seen is executions by ICE against innocent Americans who are using their First Amendment right to protest and to lawful assembly. It’s just really sad.”

Valerian Garzón, a student who was photographing the event, when asked how ICE is affecting students, said, “A large population of the school is Hispanic, myself included. So for me and for a lot of kids at school it’s something which has hit very close to home and affected a lot of our community members. I’ve seen ICE crawling around this neighborhood and around our school several times, as well as hearing stories of family members or community members that have been taken. So it’s something that I think hits very close to home for a lot of people here.”

Ella Hibbard said, “I am out here protesting ICE in America and blatant murder and kidnapping of people who just wanna make a living.” Ella continued, “ICE affects my fellow students especially. Especially those who may not be able to have the correct documents. They are still people who belong in a community, and that community is with us and not in some fucked-up prison!”

#TacomaWA #WA #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #ICE #HighSchool