Lea este artículo en español aquí.
In a protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and President Donald Trump, more than 40 Hollister Dual Language Academy students walked out of school on March 5.
The school serves children in kindergarten through eighth grade, but the children participating in the walkout appeared to be in the higher grades. The students left campus around noon and marched to the Hwy 25 and Tres Pinos intersection. There were no adults present when they started their walk.
Hollister Dual Language Academy Principal Sylvia Solis did not immediately respond to BenitoLink’s request for comment.
During the protest, students received honks from passersby. A man also stopped at the Safeway parking lot and yelled “Why do you hate America?” to which students responded, “We love America.”
A woman positioned herself between the man and the students and signaled for him to move along with hand gestures. A female student stopped a group of about five students from engaging with the man. The man left shortly after.
Among the two organizers was an eighth grader, Genesis, 13, who said she wanted to show she is not scared.
She said she helped organize the protest “to show our president, to show the government, to show to everyone that we have voices and we’re going to speak up for those that can’t, no matter what.”
Nationwide, there have been student protests against ICE activities, particularly after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, incidents which Hollister High School students responded to in protest. There have also been several No Kings Protests in Hollister and San Juan Bautista over the past ten months.
Genesis said protesting was important to her because it shows solidarity with the families impacted by deportations.
“The president has taken so much from us, has taken families apart and this shows everyone that we have a word, we have something to fight for and that they are not alone and that our voice matters,” she said.
Genesis said she and another eighth grader came up with the idea to walk out about two weeks ago. She said some of the students who participated in it informed their parents of their plans.
Another eighth grader, Omar, 14, said he participated to support his classmates.
“I’m not scared of ICE, I’m not scared of Trump,” he said. “I’m just here to support.”
According to the school bell schedule, the middle school students take their lunch break between 11:59 and 12:34. They are let out of school at 12:50.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.