More than 100 Valparaiso High School students walked out Friday to stand along Campbell Street in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement violence and deportations.
The walkout was one of several that have taken place across Northwest Indiana and the Chicago area in recent weeks to protest the actions of immigration officers, particularly in light of the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, U.S. citizens shot and killed in Minneapolis in late January.
“I’m really here just to spread the word about the violence and the murders going on,” Kimora Rice said. “We’re supposed to be a free country.”
“They have to do their jobs as ICE agents, but there’s other ways to do this,” she said.
“(Expletive) ICE. They’re some goofies,” Liyah Richmond said. “They’re trying to deport people who might not need to be deported.”
Organizers Nicholas Lune, Natalie Ramos and Karen Arellano were pleased with the turnout.
Ramos said a middle school student who saw one of the posters about the VHS walkout voiced support and said their fellow middle school students would plan one for March.
“It turned out to be bigger than we thought,” Lune said.
Some of the students who didn’t participate were concerned about violence or had difficult classes that period that they didn’t want to miss, Arellano said.
“Skipping one class won’t hurt my future,” Ramos said.
Students whose parents called the school would be reported absent for that period, Lune said.
Lune missed government class to exercise his First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble and speak freely.
“I’m missing a test,” in Spanish class, one student said. “I will take the zero if they don’t let me, but I’ll probably retake it.”
“Valparaiso Community Schools respects students’ rights to express their views and recognizes that civic engagement is an important part of the democratic process especially as we approach the nation’s semiquincentennial,” Superintendent Jim McCall said.
“At the same time, our responsibility is to maintain a safe and orderly learning environment, and students are expected to follow school attendance and behavioral procedures; as such, any violations of the student handbook will be addressed accordingly by school administration.”
“Jesus preached we should love our neighbor,” Isabella Masse said, and not deport them.
“We are all Americans, no matter the race, no matter the age,” Ava Camery said.
“ICE should be by the border,” not targeting blue states, Camery added.
Hispanics and immigrants do jobs that others won’t. “They getting booted out of the United States just because they’re white, not born here,” Camery said.
“I think what’s happening in this country is not correct,” Parker Lewis said. “Our voices need to be heard.”
Lewis said he has lots of friends concerned about what ICE is doing.
“It’s not what our Founding Fathers stood for or believed in,” Andres Garlinaga said. “I want to stand for what is right and what is fair.”
“What Trump is doing will affect us all, no matter what skin tone we have,” Gideon White said. “Even if I myself am white, all of us in this country are affected by this ICE deportation.”
“I could very well be just as affected as my friends,” White said. “It will affect us all if we don’t do something.”
“U.S. citizens are also being taken, and it’s not OK,” Zero Wineinger said. “I’m here doing this for all of the adults, children, teens that have been forcibly taken from their homes.”
“ICE is doing so many bad things,” Teagan O’Connell said.
Crown Point High School student journalists Ariana Pancoja and Cameron Qualls were there to cover the story.
“My piece at school is about the ICE protests that are happening all across Northwest Indiana,” Pancoja said. She is one of the CPTV anchors. “It’s really important that we do that for our student body.”
“It’s really looking good for our generation,” Pancoja said.
Cameron Qualls, her cameraman, agreed. With AI and fake news, it’s important to bring a camera or iPhone to document the real story, he said.
Two adults wearing Trump memorabilia were at the scene. One who declined an interview was holding a large wooden cross and a sign that read, “You got Trumped.” He stood apart from the protestors.
James Ferguson, of Valparaiso, was across the street wearing a Trump 2028 hat. “I just wear this hat because it pisses liberals off,” he said.
“I am pro-deportations. I see most of this as just an emotional response to deportations being mean,” he said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
