(UNION CITY, CA.) – Students of James Logan High School (JLHS) are fed up with the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Friday, Feb. 6, students gathered in the main court of JLHS during both lunch periods to participate in the Tricity ICE protest, a protest that included high schools across Union City, Fremont, and Newark.
During the protest, students spoke out against the actions of ICE. They participated in chants, showed their support with home-made signs, and listened to student speakers share the stories of ICE victims and spread messages about human rights, equality, and love.
Photo Credit: Melody Kwong
Beni Renteria, a student who attended the protest shares what about ICE bothers him the most and why he is protesting them:
“ICE [carries] out unjust and unlawful acts of violence and [murders] innocent civilians, while also not giving people suspected of illegal immigration any due process when the constitution states that all persons, not civilians, have the right to due process.”
A student from the Ethnic Studies and Social Justice Academy (ESSJ), a 3-year long academic program hosted on Logan’s campus, opens the first lunch period with a short speech:
"The constitution begins with the words 'we the people,' not some of the people, not only the people who are convenient, or wealthy, or documented, 'we the people.' [...] When we give our power to the government, we do so with the expectation that they will protect us, not harm us,” he says. “Today, that [power is abused] by ICE [...], a federal agency that has ripped families apart and has taken lives instead of protecting them.”
Other speakers from ESSJ go on to explain their ongoing campaign that calls for NHUSD to become a sanctuary district.
A sanctuary district is a district that will not cooperate with ICE without an official and valid warrant or court order. Sanctuary districts may also pledge to do everything within their legal abilities to prevent ICE from entering school campuses. Policies followed by sanctuary districts vary from place to place, but all are centered around creating a safe environment for all immigrant children.
For more in-depth information on sanctuary districts, check out this article.
Photo Credit: instagram.com / jlhsxessj
"Students shouldn't have to wait in fear of ICE showing up and our district shouldn't wait to act. There are students right now that are barely making it to school because of how debilitating the fear of ICE is. [...] No student, nobody can be successful while living in fear for themselves or their families.”
Student speaker Nawid Samim builds upon this idea of a lack of safety due to ICE activity and presence:
“Also understand that we aren't safe either. Across the Bay Area, families live in fear. Fear of raids, fear of separation, fear that a simple knock on the door can tear their lives apart.”
Photo Credit: Madison Vinas
Most speakers led the students in a chant before handing the microphone off to the next speaker.
Some of the chants led by the speakers included “We are not here out of hate, we are here for love” and a call-and-response chant that goes “When human rights are under attack what do we do?” “Stand up, fight back!”
Concerns regarding ICE have also been on the rise in cities like Dublin, CA. and Portland, OR.
If you have any questions, please email me at madison.v@lead4earth.org or comment below.
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