Hundreds of students from C.K. McClatchy High School waited patiently at the 4th Avenue Wayne Hultgren station Friday morning for the light rail to pick them up on their way to protest.
Every train that arrived was filled with students from surrounding areas with signs that expressed how they felt about ICE treatment of American citizens and immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The students made their way downtown to protest at the Capitol and the John E. Moss Federal and as of 12:30 p.m., around 1500 students were protesting, California Highway Patrol told CapRadio.
“We’re standing in solidarity with everyone who is being impacted by ICE, especially people in Minnesota right now,” Heather Koike, a senior at McClatchy High School said. “Last time I checked, 3,000 federal agents deployed there right now, and it’s wreaking havoc and disrupting a lot of people’s lives. And the disruption that we’re causing here is meant to kind of stand in solidarity with that.”
Students at C.K. McClatchy High School entered the light rail at the 4th Avenue Wayne Hultgren station during their walk out in protest against ICE on Friday, Jan. 30.Keyshawn Davis/CapRadio
McClatchy wasn’t the only school that had students walk out in protest. Students from Luther Burbank, West Campus, Arthur A. Benjamin Professions, Hiram Johnson and Florin High School organized and protested.
Ace Parker and Angel Gonzales, both seniors at Florin High, organized the protest at their school. They started creating social media accounts, made posters, and it gained traction that led to about 200 participants from Florin and surrounding schools.
High school students hold signs in protest against ICE operations in Minnesota at the 4th Avenue Wayne Hultgren station on Friday Jan. 30.Keyshawn Davis/CapRadio
“We’re really just showing up for the people and for minorities, and not for ourselves, but for our future, our kids, our mothers, our brothers, our sisters, everyone,” Parker said. “We’re just here to show up and show the young that their voice does matter and their presence does matter as one, because if the young unifies as one, that’s the future alone.”
Gonzales agreed and said it’s important that youth matters.
“We can’t always rely on adults to solve all our problems and just hopefully wait until one day we’re 21 and things think everything’s gonna be okay,” Gonzales said. “It is up to the Gen Z and all high school students and all of the youth to come together and do something about this, because this is your future at stake…”
Protesters hold signs outside the John E. Moss Federal Building in Downtown Sacramento Friday, Jan. 30.Keyshawn Davis/CapRadio
Retired government and social science teachers from the school, Tim Douglas and Lori Jablonski, were at the light rail station while students were boarding to make sure everyone was safe.
“I think it’s significant because it shows that the young people are aware of what’s going on in the nation and are actively trying to change the course and pattern of our history at this moment,” Douglas said. Jablonski mentioned that she’s taught for a long time and has seen many protests.
“I’m absolutely impressed,” she said. “I mean, we know these students, so we know what they’re capable of, but something at this scale is nothing but inspirational, and it’s a lesson for us adults.”
Assemblymember Maggy Krell spoke during the protest and emphasized the historical significance of student protests enacting change. “What you are doing is exactly what it takes to vote out this oppressive regime and the kind of brutality that we’re seeing in Minnesota and across the country,” she told the crowd of students on the Capitol steps.
California State Assemblywoman Maggy Krell addresses a crowd of students during a protest against federal immigration enforcement at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Jan. 30.Greg Micek/CapRadio
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, of District 8, came to support the students.
“They’re out here actually teaching lessons to adults to actually have a backbone and stand up,” Vang said. “Today I heard from so many young people that we need to abolish ICEe, that we need to dismantle ICE, because this entity is harming and killing families, and so adults should be listening to young people.”
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