Valencia High School students took the streets to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday amid similar “ICE Out” events staged across the country.
About 100 students gathered on the corner of Dickason Drive and Smyth Drive holding signs with various messages before they walked over to Newhall Ranch Road during their lunch break, becoming more visible to commuters.
“Today, a group of students at Valencia High School participated in a protest to express their views on current national events. Although we encourage student expression, schools do not organize or promote student-led protests,” read a William S. Hart Union High School District statement provided Friday by Debbie Dunn, the district’s director of communications.
“Staff works with students to maintain a safe, orderly environment for participants and non-participants. This includes identifying a safe space on campus during non-instructional time for students to share their opinions. Students are reminded of behavioral expectations, including staying on campus. Today, some students left campus during school hours to continue their protest, and staff monitored the situation as much as possible,” the statement added.
The protest was organized by the school’s Black Student Union group with the help of other students expressing their displeasure with ICE.
“We want to show people and show the world that this has gotten serious, and kids care about it. There isn’t much in politics that kids care about, and we want to show people that this is important that even the children are noticing and the children are upset,” said Valencia BSU President Ari Johnson.
“We also want to show solidarity with other students on campus who feel vulnerable, like they can be targeted by ICE, to know that they are not alone,” she added.
According to the Valencia students who participated, students from Canyon High School, West Ranch High School and Golden Valley High School planned to hold their own protests.
The district did not report any other schools participating during Friday’s demonstration, according to an email from Dunn.
Students wanted to hold the demonstration during a school day to show their peers that campus should be a place where they “feel happy, welcome, and that they’re supposed to be here. There’s so much hate in this world … and I just wanted to make sure that everyone felt like that had a safe space to go,” said BSU Vice President Mackenzie Medland.
Student Gio Bell added, “If you were killed for just simply expressing your opinions, for standing up for any wrongdoings you’re seeing in this country, then you died without freedom.”
“Our voices matter,” Bell said, and acknowledged that students may not have much power but, “You have to do what you can and don’t feel discouraged. Even though we are in a heavily red community, you just need to stand up for what you believe in and not be afraid of that.”
Johnson added: “We encourage other students at other schools if they also feel passionate about what’s going on, plan a protest, use your resources … students should not be afraid to speak up for what they believe in.”