Hundreds of Clark County students walked out of class Tuesday protesting recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.

Walkouts were scheduled at Fort Vancouver, Skyview, Columbia River, Hudson’s Bay, Union, Evergreen, Heritage, and Henrietta Lacks high schools, as well as Vancouver School of Arts and Academics and Shahala and Cascade middle schools, among others.

“We came here to protest ICE because of all the illegal (expletive) they’ve been doing in our country,” said Vancouver Flex Academy junior Colin Perlas, one of the organizers of the Fort Vancouver walkout. “I’m a patriot. I love this country. But under this administration, I can’t stand the way that ICE and federal agents are acting in our states. As the next generation, it’s up to us to show that we know how to fight back and make our voices heard.”

Vancouver Public Schools students also planned to attend the district’s school board meeting Tuesday evening to request extensions for excused absences for immigrant students or students who have been targeted by ICE or who have a detained guardian; permission to host “Know Your Rights” training sessions; stronger district “hate and bias” protocols; alerts to parents and students about ICE presence within a certain distance of a school building; and increased security, according to an Instagram post for the Vancouver walkout.

In a message to students and families Monday, Vancouver Public Schools said: “While district policy prohibits staff from participation or aiding immigration enforcement at work, our staff — including district resources officers — do not have authority to intervene in immigration enforcement actions off campus.”

U.S. government policy states that ICE does not raid schools. However, people around the country have reported incidents of agents conducting enforcement actions near schools, leading to panic and high rates of student absenteeism.

“We don’t want the fear,” said Emerson Milne, a junior at Flex Academy. “I don’t want my friends and my peers to feel fear going to school. I don’t want them to feel fear going out. I can feel it in my school. Everyone can feel it all around. We don’t want that anymore. We want everyone to be able to feel safe. School is supposed to be a space where you can learn safely without the fear of other things happening.”

Fort Vancouver and Flex Academy students converged shortly after 2 p.m. at the northwest corner of Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Stapleton Road in Vancouver, in front of Thai Kwok Kitchen. Some carried signs, while others blew whistles and cheered for honks from supportive drivers.

Megaphones in hand, Perlas and Milne took turns leading the students in rounds of chants, such as “ICE, ICE, go away, immigrants are here to stay” and “No more hate, no more fear, immigrants are welcome here,” for about 45 minutes.

“We’re supporting (students) whose parents have been taken by ICE,” said Lizzet Mejia Orteja, a Fort Vancouver senior. “They were kidnapped, pretty much. … ICE has just been taking people off the streets.”

Daniela Banuelos, a senior at Fort Vancouver, said ICE agents “took (her) friend’s dad when he was on his way to work.”

“He had no criminal record, no nothing,” she said. “We’re trying to raise awareness and advocate for those who can’t (advocate for themselves).”

At Henrietta Lacks, about 200 students walked out promptly at 1 p.m. and protested on East Mill Plain Boulevard and Northeast 92nd Avenue in Vancouver, near PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.

Students held handmade posters with messages such as “Empathy over empire” and “Soy la voz de mis padres” (I am the voice of my parents) and chanted.

Students said they heard about the walkout on social media and through word of mouth. Brian Hurt, a freshman at Henrietta Lacks and organizer of the walkout, said he was inspired by other schools who planned walkouts.

“I feel like at HeLa, there are a lot of future health care professionals. It is super important for us to stand up for who could be our future patients when we enter the health care field,” Hurt said.

Milo Castle, a senior at Henrietta Lacks, said he joined the walkout to support classmates with immigrant parents. Castle said it was heartwarming to see the amount of student participation.

“I think what’s going on currently is wrong, and what is being put out is completely inaccurate,” Castle said. “They say they’re trying to get criminals. It’s not criminals, it’s families that they are separating, they are breaking apart. You are making people live in fear because they want a better chance. They want an opportunity to live, to have a better future, a better life for their family.”

At Evergreen and Cascade, students participated in a joint walkout about 2:30 p.m. Both crowds of students held signs and Mexican and American flags, and chanted along the sidewalk of the campuses.

Emily Oliba, a junior at Evergreen, said she’s disgusted by the recent increase in ICE activity in Clark County. She joined the walkout to represent her immigrant family.

“I just want to show my support to my people,” Oliba said. “I think it’s very important that we show we’re here for them.”

Angela Herrera, president of Evergreen’s Latino Student Union and an organizer of the walkout, likened recent immigration enforcement in Clark County to segregation.

“It’s not OK, they have to go,” Herrera said of ICE. “They think it’s OK to do anything and hurt anybody. It took a white woman getting killed for people to be like, ‘This is not OK.’” (Renee Good, 37, a U.S. citizen was killed Jan. 7 by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.)

Both Vancouver and Evergreen public schools sent emails to parents stating the districts were aware of the student-led walkouts and supported the students’ right to protest peacefully.

Students chose Tuesday for their walkout because it’s the second day of the state’s Legislative session.

Protests and walkouts are one way the students have chosen to express their views, according to Vancouver Public Schools’ Monday message.

Evergreen’s Superintendent Christine Moloney also sent out a message Monday to families saying the district supports “an environment where students can express their views in a respectful and constructive manner.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the pronouns of a student.