Once the clock struck 12:40 p.m., dozens of Hammond Central High School students walked out of school, holding signs protesting U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or the flags of various Latin countries. Honking car horns, cheers and Bad Bunny’s song, “DtMF,” served as background music.
Edward Garcia, a 15-year-old sophomore at Hammond Central High School, looked around and felt proud to join his fellow students.
“We’re showing up, and we’re fighting for what’s right,” Garcia said. “In the Latino community, we’re being targeted by this current administration. It’s very refreshing, and it’s very heartwarming in a way to see the school coming up and speaking out against this administration. … We’re speaking up, and we’re fighting for what’s right.”
Students at Hammond Central High School, on Monday, joined a nationwide trend of walking out of school to protest ICE enforcement. The walkouts come after ICE involvement in Minneapolis has received national attention, especially following the deaths of two American citizens who were shot and killed by immigration officers.
“To see everybody coming together and uniting is nice because we don’t see a lot of that at Hammond Central, unfortunately,” Garcia said. “But seeing all of us unite and try to fight for something that’s right, that’s nice to see.”
High school students throughout Indiana have taken part in ICE walkout protests over the past few weeks. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith has expressed opposition in an X/Twitter post.
“As some of our children in Indiana struggle to learn basic skills like math and reading, it’s unacceptable to see so many schools in our state, funded by BILLIONS of Hoosier tax dollars, openly allow their students walk out in protest of ICE,” Beckwith wrote in a Feb. 2 post following a walkout in Zionsville. “Hoosier parents and children deserve better.”
Anthony Salinas, acting superintendent of School City of Hammond, said the district knew about the intended walkout and praised the students.
“I think this is a really, really powerful movement,” Salinas said. “It’s peaceful, and it’s organized. It really gives students an opportunity to voice their feelings in a very peaceful and organized way. We don’t want anyone to feel like they don’t have a voice in this situation.”
Since the school was alerted of the walkout, Salinas said students were given about 20 minutes to participate after lunch, which ended at 12:40 p.m.
Hammond Central students got the word out via social media posts before Monday’s walkout.
Veronica Garcia, a teacher at Hammond Central and mother of Edward Garcia, said she was proud to see students from various grades showing their opposition to ICE in a peaceful manner.
“I’m very impressed by the students’ compassion for one another,” Veronica Garcia said. “People are quick to critique this young generation, when they don’t realize that they’re having a totally different experience than what we had. The compassion they have for each other is to be admired.”
Veronica Garcia also said she was proud of her son, who has multiple grandparents who were immigrants to the U.S.
“It’s a personal issue for us,” Veronica Garcia said. “Yes, we’re citizens, but our neighbors deserve advocacy. They should be able to live in peace, and we need a pathway to citizenship and to not deport hardworking individuals without cause. … It’s a violation of everyone’s civil rights.”
Aleks Lexow, support department lead for Northwest Indiana Community Response Team, watched Hammond Central students protest from afar on Monday. The Northwest Indiana Community Response Team, which formed in November, helps with rapid response to ICE activity in the region and educates people on their rights.
Organization members watched students protest and handed out information on what to do if someone is in danger of ICE, including understanding their constitutional rights and a phone number to call or text for help. The informational sheets were in both English and Spanish.
Watching the students made her hopeful for the next generation, Lexow said.
“Seeing these kids come out, it’s made me feel so much better about the world that my kids are growing into,” he said. “All of these kids have so much strength, and it just makes me hopeful.”
Lexow believes there are misconceptions and misunderstandings about school walkouts, she said, with some people believing that students want an excuse out of class. However, Lexow said students are seeing their friends and loved ones in danger, and it makes them scared and angry.
“They’re seeing their friends who are terrified for their loved ones, for their families and for their neighbors,” Lexow said. “I definitely think that these students having the courage to go out and speak up and against what they’re seeing happening in their communities, whether they’re directly impacted or not, is awe-inspiring.”
