On Friday morning, a group of about a hundred San Luis High School students walked out of campus to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, under the Trump administration. The walkout is one of many taking place across the nation this week as tension and anxieties rise in the wake of deaths connected to ICE.
Students gathered outside the high school before classes at 7 a.m. and then walked out during the school’s first lunch session at 10:40 a.m.
Walking to Joe Orduño Park, they held signs that read, “Must be nice to not care when it’s not your family,” “You don’t get to talk about ‘illegal’ when you support a felon” and “hot people melt ICE” among others.
As they headed down Cesar Chavez Boulevard, they were met with plenty of honking as cars passed.
“Several students, I want to say between 100, 150 students walked out of the school,” said Lt. Emmanuel Botello of the San Luis Police Department. “The group came out of the school and they are carrying signs, carrying flags. They're, you know, manifesting their opposition against ICE, um, to put it in nice words, you know, what some of those signs read.”
According to Botello, SLPD had met with school personnel in the morning to gather information. As the protest and walkout unfolded, SLPD patrolled the area to ensure public safety.
SLPD’s On-The-Ground Report
“We're keeping an eye. We're still handling business as usual. We just reminded everybody of the right to protest and manifest whatever they wanted to manifest,” Botello said. “However, we still, you know, reminded them that they cannot be obstructing traffic and all the criminal activities that they could get involved with. So as long as they stick to what's legal, they do their peaceful protest, there's going to be no enforcement on our part. We're just watching.”
He explained that while the department had resources at the ready should the protest go awry, the walkout was peaceful.
Botello spoke with KAWC while he was actively patrolling the area, and he observed that not much was going on by the time students were gathered at the park.
“The group has gotten smaller; I can tell you that a lot of the, out of the 100+ students that walked out, probably half of that group remains,” he said at noon. “I mean, I can tell you a lot of them, we saw they started boarding into taxi cabs. Some of them got picked up. Others, you know, they’re driving vehicles and they were just leaving by the bunches.
“So obviously we're not really getting involved with anybody that's taking off voluntarily. We're not going to force anybody to stay on school ground, and we're minimizing that potential negative contact with them. We don't want things to escalate.”
Yuma County Residents Fear ICE Presence
The walkout coincides with rumors of ICE sightings in Yuma County. On social media like Facebook and Instagram, residents were reporting that government-issued vehicles were associated with ICE.
Some also raised concerns that there may have been ICE near San Luis High School Friday morning, but SLPD stated they were unaware of any presence in the area.
“At least not that we are aware. There's nobody, at least nobody visibly marked. Typically whenever ICE is in the area, they'll give us a courtesy call, let us know they're in the area,” Botello said. “So no, we have not been made aware of any ICE, and there's also no one from, like, Border Patrol or U.S. Customs in the area. Really just us at this point and again, only to maintain the security of every other motorist or every other citizen out there on the streets.”
SLHS Students Share Their Thoughts
KAWC wasn’t able to catch up with protestors on the scene, but various San Luis High School students were visiting Arizona Western College’s Yuma campus for a competition.
Standing outside the KAWC station inside the Matador Activity Center, two seniors agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.
“It was all through social media, I guess. We weren't here; we left really early, like, 5 a.m. I just saw a social media account popped out of nowhere. They're like, ‘You know, we gotta stand up to this injustice,’” one student said. “It's, I think, because they spotted some vans in Yuma coming into town or something.
“Obviously, I think it's great that they're standing up for what they believe in. Like, it's a thing that we should still be able to do as, like, as a community, stand up for what you think is right.”
Another senior and their surrounding peers revealed that they learned of the walkout through an Instagram account, @SLHS.Against.ICE. This account is not affiliated with the Yuma Union High School District and is anonymously run.
“[The protestors] want people, like, to let know you need to speak up. I mean, who else is going to make the change if we can’t say anything about it? And I mean, that’s really what the purpose is,” the student said. “... they’re just trying to keep our community safe. I mean, we’re predominantly Hispanic, so.”
The students had differing opinions on how much awareness their peers had of what’s going on, but they agreed that there’s less discussion going on between peers.
“I wouldn't say a lot. I mean, a lot of people don't really pay attention to the news like that, which is like a tragedy because this is affecting our whole nation, right? And then us being from a small town like this, where most of our workers are immigrants and we rely on immigrants especially, you know, being here in Yuma, we grow most of the lettuce if I'm right,” one student said. “So I don't see the problem with, like — like I don't get why ICE is being so hostile lately. I know they did some things like in Minnesota and all that. I haven't heard a lot of students talking about it in school, but it should definitely be something that we should pay attention to and be aware of.”
The other student noted that despite the lack of discussion amongst peers, awareness is unavoidable.
“We don't discuss as much as our teachers, but, I mean, it's all over the place. Like there's news — there's even a class called ‘Current Events,’ and they've been talking about it like, I don't know who, like, recently, I think his name was… I forgot the name, but I think he was, like, an ICU nurse that recently that they were discussing about it.
“And that's how we've been, like, spreading around. And then, I mean, even the news and online, like, our parents are worried, so it's a little concerning.”
Both of the students expressed they’re not as directly worried for themselves or their families.
“Well, we're all citizens, like from my family, at least. Obviously, like, I'm not speaking for most, but we're still, like, scared because, I mean, we've seen on the news that they don't even check anymore. You never really know who's next,” one said.
That same student shared that it’s a little scarier to go out nowadays.
“For instance, the post going around like they were talking about like the cars issued that they're using? Like I drive that same car so like I'm scared of going out. I don't want something happening to me, like maybe getting people thinking I’m ICE or something,” they said. “And even my parents, like, we now try to carry our passport around and everything in case of anything. So we do feel a little more threatened when we go out.”
The other student said that they’re not in a position where they get worried, but they have some family members in California who saw close friends get taken away.
“They're seeing a lot of it more over there, so it’s, I mean, like I said, it hasn't really affected us here as much, but it's definitely still happening,” they said. “It hasn't affected us as much, but it was just, I feel like it was just a matter of time before ICE showed up and started causing havoc here.”
When asked about classmates crossing the border daily to go to school, several students nodded and shared that many students cross regularly and there’s some added fear.
“I even know some cousins, like they cross and they’re a little scared. Like last time they got asked for their passport and everything, and they got threatened like if they don’t bring it, they can’t cross,” one of the seniors said.
Getting asked for passports was unusual for their cousins, they explained.
“Like when crossing, my family, they don’t usually ask anything,” they said. “It’s just that they recently started asking for that. I think it’s something new.”
Aftermath of Walking Out
After having met with school personnel, SLPD understood that students walking out would be marked as absent. Typically, Yuma Union High School District’s general attendance practice for unexcused absences is to not permit students to return, but the district didn’t confirm that this was the case regarding the students who walked out.
When asked about repercussions, YUHSD Chief Communications Officer Eric Patten said that any sort of discipline for unexcused absences is usually handled at the campus level and that he was unaware of any such actions at the time of KAWC’s inquiry Friday.
“Students were verbally encouraged to stay at school, but we also respect their individual constitutional rights,” Patten said.
The walkout itself is certainly not the last of ICE protests to be seen in Yuma County. More are expected to take place Saturday, and @SLHS.Against.ICE also posted that they hope to put another protest "as long as the issues we fought against today remain because although today was great, until we have justice, we aren't done."
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
