Several hundred high school students from Proviso Township District 209 walked out of their classrooms Wednesday morning in protest of the Trump administration\u2019s continued mass deportation campaign.<\/p>\n
Students walked to the sounds of Latin music and honking from passing cars as they made their way down Roosevelt Road to 25th Avenue, just a few blocks away from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, which was the site of numerous protests in the months since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown in Chicago dubbed \u2018Operation Midway Blitz.\u2019<\/p>\n
Chicago has, for months, been the site of anti-ICE protests as the city weathered a monthslong immigration blitz<\/a> that detained thousands and prompted resistance and solidarity<\/a> by residents from walks of life \u2014 from documenting detentions and the actions of federal agents to delivering candy<\/a> on Halloween to those who didn\u2019t feel safe enough to go door-to-door amid the immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n But, lately, students have taken action, organizing walkouts from their classrooms in protest of ICE. Some are going up against the advice of school officials, the police and others in the name of making their communities more aware of what\u2019s been happening, citing personal connections to the recent immigration detentions and a desire to make their voices heard.\n<\/p>\n This is not the first time local students have organized in opposition to federal immigration enforcement actions. In late October, as the immigration crackdown carried on, hundreds of students in Little Village walked out of class after several people were taken into custody in their neighborhood the week before.<\/p>\n But in recent weeks, student walkouts have been taking hold in a number of communities in and around Chicago after ICE involvement in Minneapolis has garnered national attention, especially following the recent deaths of two American citizens who were shot and killed by immigration officers.<\/p>\n On Feb. 2, hundreds of students on Chicago\u2019s North Side walked out of their classrooms in protest in solidarity with Minnesota and against the immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n The next day, dozens from East Aurora High School marched out of their school in the western suburbs in protest of ICE. Subsequent walkouts occurred in the suburbs in the days following\u00a0 \u2014 in Elgin, Naperville, Waukegan, even Hammond, Ind.<\/p>\n Then, on Wednesday, students from Proviso\u2019s three high schools also took to the street, marching for about two miles from their respective buildings.<\/p>\n The recent actions have generated mixed reactions of support and concern from local school districts and elected officials regarding student safety.<\/p>\n For example, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, ahead of Wednesday\u2019s walkout, encouraged Proviso students to hold their protest on school grounds rather than at the Broadview ICE facility.<\/p>\n \u201cRecent events have shown that ICE agents have become increasingly volatile and violent, even resorting to killing American citizens in broad daylight,\u201d Thompson said in a news release. \u201cI want our students to use their voices and exercise their free speech, but I want them to do so where they are safe\u2014within the protective confines of their own school grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n But when the Proviso students arrived at Broadview on Wednesday, they were met with whistles and applause from crossing guards and neighbors.<\/p>\n Gathered on the sidewalk, students proudly waved Mexican, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan flags and chanted, while some sat on their classmates\u2019 shoulders to make their signs more visible to passersby. Others line danced to \u201cPayaso de rodeo,\u201d as students held up signs reading \u201cNo one is illegal on stolen land\u201d and \u201cEnd ICE terror now.\u201d<\/p>\n