Students Gather to Protest I.C.E.

Pouring out of the main gate, students gathered at the flagpole in front of the school to protest against the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E). Organized by senior Klaus Dita, the event started at 2 p.m. and wrapped up at 3 p.m.

“I went to a protest 10 days ago, and one of the coordinators there let us know about a national walkout happening on Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. local time and they gave us the website. I was going to go to one in person but the closest event was in Austin, so I decided to bring one here.” 

Inspiration and motivation to put on the event was not hard to find for Dita. Dita believes people don’t have to be someone at risk of being deported to care. 

“My mom’s boyfriend is at risk, and his kids, and a lot of my friends are as well. I was really upset, I see people get manhandled and treated like a bag of flour on social media every day,” Dita said. “It’s really hard to ignore and I don’t think I can morally ignore it. And people who look like my friends and my family are being treated like they’re less than human.” 

And while expectations were not high, the student body showed up for their peers and for what they believed in. 

“I actually didn’t expect anything,” Dita said. “I didn’t expect anyone to show up. Even the people I talked to about it seemed really negative. They said that they would go just to skip class or that nothing would come of it or that it was too much effort to put into it. It was really disheartening. I still wanted to give it a shot.”

 Students with signs and papers containing slogans and puns about not wanting I.C.E. on their streets and to stop the hate lined the entrance to the school. 

“I’ve been to many protests, but this is the first time I’ve hosted one. [Destiny Ramos] came up to me and mentioned that we should have people come up and share their stories about I.C.E. and their fears and experiences,” Dita said. “Catherine Garcia also helped because the most Spanish I took was Spanish Two. There were some chants that I thought needed to be said and held more impact than the ones I had in English. I think it also brought more of a connection. Even with my classmates, because of the language barrier, because I can’t understand you but you have so much to say. To get someone on the megaphone that understands you and can receive and understand your story has a bigger impact, I think.” 

Giving the students a voice was a priority during the protest, allowing people to send messages and talk about what they felt they needed to say. 

“I really like that people were able to share their stories.  They got to humanize it because they were talking to people their age, saying that they were afraid to leave their house, even though they’ve lived here all their life. Sometimes I think about how not that long ago, Texas was Mexico.”

Dita and the students proved to each other they stood as one. 

“Being here illegally [first offense] is only a misdemeanor, but they’re being treated like cattle for something that our founding fathers did so many years ago,” Dita said.