What’s at stake?
Students from multiple Fresno Unified schools continued to protest against ICE and the Trump Administration, with students from high schools and middle schools travelling downtown on Tuesday to demonstrate.
Students from multiple Fresno Unified schools walked out of school Tuesday afternoon, converging on City Hall in downtown Fresno.
According to a student interviewed by Fresnoland, the walkout was organized through an Instagram post that included the names of more than 15 middle schools and high schools.
Martha C., a high school junior, took part in the downtown protest. She and three of her peers from Duncan Polytechnical High School caught a central Fresno bus and made their way to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office on L Street.
“I feel like everyone has to support each other, because, at the end of the day, we’re all the same,” Martha said. “We all bleed the same color, no matter what race, what color, anything about anything, you should step up and speak up and help others.”
Jocelyn V. a junior from Duncan who joined Martha, said they participated to peacefully protest against the Trump Administration and ICE.
“Some people say that not everything is about politics, but I feel that when it affects us as humans, it [is] and we all are getting affected equally,” Jocelyn told Fresnoland.
Both students from Duncan asked to have their last names withheld, citing concerns over retaliation from school administrators.
“It’s not just immigrants, we’ve even seen that US citizens have been taken, they’ve been kidnapped, they’ve been killed,” Jocelyn said. ”That’s not right, and if we don’t take a stand, then the power is going to stay in the wrong hands.”
Payton Vongsak, a protester from Roosevelt High School, said he also became aware of the protest from the Instagram post.
“I came out with all the Fresno schools to protest against ICE,” Vongsak told Fresnoland.
All students interviewed by Fresnoland explained that at some point during the walkout, students congregated at a bank near the ICE office in Fresno and began throwing items at the building. At some point, multiple protesters said, there was a brief confrontation between students.
According to Lt. Larry Bowlan, Fresno police briefly detained some students in connection with the altercation, but no arrests were made.
“At some point, a few students from two different middle schools got into a verbal confrontation and officers separated and detained a couple of the involved juveniles and had their parents come pick them up,” Bowlan said via text.
The recent surge of student walkouts has become a dilemma for school districts in Fresno County.
On Feb. 7, a joint statement from multiple Fresno County school district superintendents called for parents and guardians to speak with students about safety risks associated with protests.
Moreover, the letter encouraged parents and students to notify schools about a student’s absence from school if they are planning on protesting.
“When students leave without following these procedures, the absence is recorded as unexcused,” the letter stated. “California law recognizes students’ right to participate in civic action by allowing only one excused absence per year for this purpose, provided families notify schools in advance and follow standard checkout procedures. We want to honor that right while ensuring safety.”
The letter was signed by Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Michele Cantwell-Copher, along with the superintendents of Fresno, Clovis, Central, Golden Plains, Kerman, Parlier, Sanger, Selma, Washington and Westside Elementary Unified.
The steady stream of local student protests and campus walkouts in recent weeks drew criticism earlier Tuesday from Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who said large numbers of students continuously leaving campuses created safety issues.
Clovis Unified students joined the local protest movement on Tuesday, with dozens walking out of class for the first time, The Fresno Bee reported.
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