Annette Mejia thought only a few students from each of Proviso Township District 209’s three high schools would attend the walkout she and a few other students began planning last weekend.
Then, on Wednesday morning, several hundred showed up, leaving their classrooms in a student-organized protest of the Trump administration’s continued mass deportation campaign.
“People kept repeating, like, ‘Oh, we should do this. This is something worth fighting for,’” the Proviso East High School senior recalled.
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, where numerous protests have been held in the months since the Trump administration began its immigration crackdown in Chicago, dubbed Operation Midway Blitz.
The crackdown in Chicago led to the detention of thousands and prompted resistance and solidarity by residents from all walks of life — from documenting detentions and the actions of federal agents to delivering candy on Halloween to those who didn’t feel safe enough to go door to door amid the immigration crackdown.
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’s been happening, citing personal connections to the recent immigration detentions and a desire to make their voices heard.
“This is what our world has come to: that teenagers had to walk out of their school to protest something that shouldn’t even be existing,” Mejia said Wednesday.
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.
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.
On Feb. 2, hundreds of students on Chicago’s North Side walked out of their classrooms in solidarity with Minnesota and against the immigration crackdown.
The next day, dozens of East Aurora High School students marched out of their school in the western suburbs in protest of ICE. Subsequent walkouts occurred in the suburbs in the following days — in Elgin, Naperville, Waukegan and Hammond.
Then, on Wednesday, students from Proviso’s three high schools — Proviso Mathematics & Science Academy, Proviso West High School and Proviso East High School — also took to the street, marching for about 2 miles from their respective school buildings.
The protest came about when its lead organizer, Ana Olivares, a junior at Proviso West High School, joined forces with Mejia and a few students from District 209 schools to recruit greater numbers.
Olivares said that, through social media, she was able to connect with students at the other schools and spread the word.
The reason they wanted to protest was rooted in how immigration enforcement has affected their families, she said.
“We’re just tired. Tired of our parents not leaving their houses — struggling to find a way to get money — basically just to take care of us,” Olivares said. “I don’t think it’s fair for us that we come to school worried that something may happen to our parents.”
For Mejia, the Proviso East senior, her reason for organizing the protest is also personal — both her parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico.
“I’m not just doing this for me,” Mejia said. “I’m doing this for the people that can’t.”
Zanaira Allen, a Proviso West sophomore, said there was no way not to get involved after seeing what was happening around her.
“We’re here to show everybody that we are not gonna let this happen in our own communities,” Allen said. “We’re gonna put up a fight.”
The protest also saw broader community participation.
Hernan Prieto, deputy director at PASO West Suburban Action Project, said the group was contacted by parents and students to attend Wednesday’s march. Around 12 people from their organization came to physically support students, handing out whistles and information about their rights, he said.
“I think in a moment like this, it gives us an idea of what they are really going through in their lives,” Prieto said.
In recent weeks, student walkouts across the area have garnered mixed reactions from local school districts and elected officials about student safety.
For example, ahead of Wednesday’s walkout, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson encouraged Proviso students to hold their protest on school grounds, rather than at the Broadview ICE facility.
“Recent events have shown that ICE agents have become increasingly volatile and violent, even resorting to killing American citizens in broad daylight,” Thompson said in a news release Tuesday. “I want our students to use their voices and exercise their free speech, but I want them to do so where they are safe — within the protective confines of their own school grounds.”
Proviso Township District 209’s superintendent, Krish Mohip, said that while the district did not sponsor or endorse the protest, it has taken steps to protect students’ rights, including recently adding three students to its board.
“We respect students’ desire to share their voices and exercise their constitutional rights, and we take student voice very seriously,” Mohip said in a statement to the Tribune.
He added that their focus at the moment was student safety, with any follow-up handled through their regular school policies and procedures, making it unclear whether students who walked out will face consequences.
But, as the Proviso students arrived at Roosevelt and 25th on Wednesday morning, they were met with whistles and applause from crossing guards and neighbors.
Gathered on the sidewalk, students proudly waved Mexican, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan flags and chanted, while some sat on their classmates’ shoulders to make their signs more visible to passersby. Others line danced to “Payaso de Rodeo,” as students held up signs reading “No one is illegal on stolen land” and “End ICE terror now.”
But questions of student safety have arisen in other communities as the walkouts persist. In Aurora, for example, a student walkout just two days earlier has been drawing criticism after three students were charged in connection with the protest.
According to police, students from several Aurora-area schools entered traffic lanes and blocked vehicles, and threw water bottles at police vehicles during their walkout on Monday. The Aurora Police Department alleged that two students were contributing to the “unsafe conditions,” and attempted to detain them, but a third student reportedly intervened and punched an officer in the head. The department confirmed that the students were from East Aurora High School but did not disclose their identities.
The incident prompted a protest outside the Aurora Police Department’s headquarters on Tuesday night and has drawn criticism on social media and from local elected officials, including state Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, who is calling for an investigation into the department’s handling of the students.
Also in response to the walkout earlier this week, Aurora Mayor John Laesch, at a City Council meeting on Tuesday said he admired the students’ efforts to make their voices heard but urged them to take an “alternative and equally effective course of action” by getting involved in local rapid response groups or forming their own groups to “strengthen the community response” to federal immigration enforcement agents.
Laesch confirmed that the city of Aurora is investigating the police’s use of force against several protesters, but said the city will not be releasing video footage, as state law generally prevents police from releasing records involving juvenile offenders.
East Aurora Superintendent Bob Halverson was unavailable for further comment on Wednesday. The district has previously said it doesn’t condone walkouts during the school day but is providing a location within the high school for students to voice their concerns.
Despite some safety concerns, the students don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
On Friday, there are plans for a coordinated national student walkout, according to recent social media posts. In Chicago, for example, organizers have encouraged students to walk out and convene at Federal Plaza on Friday afternoon as part of the national action.
The Proviso students said they don’t have school Friday, but are still planning to organize some kind of action in light of the planned walkouts.
Sophia Whitfield, a freshman at Proviso Math and Science Academy, emphasized that the recent actions are important to students — they’re not a “get out of class free” card. Whitfield carried a sign that read, on one side, “I’m skipping our lesson to teach you one.”
“We are skipping school to make a point — to prove to people that this is not OK and that we are not going to stand for this,” Whitfield said.
As planned actions continue, Diana Castaneda, a sophomore at Proviso Math and Science Academy, encouraged students to keep standing up for what they believe in.
“If you feel the need to say something — use your voice, use anything that you have … especially during a time like this,” Castaneda said. “It’s very important for our community to know that we’re on their side and we’re out here rooting for them.”
The Beacon-News’ R. Christian Smith contributed.
