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Students walked from the high school down River Road to the Randy Papé Beltline interchange with signs, chanting at passing cars to protest the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Some students have been personally affected by the fear of ICE detaining family members.
More than 300 North Eugene High School students participated Tuesday, Feb. 17, in a demonstration against national activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
The students walked out of school around 10:45 a.m. and marched down Silver Lane to River Road, where they clustered around the Randy Papé Beltline interchange, chanting “ICE out” and holding signs.
Some were there to protest the actions of ICE officers on behalf of immigrant families, while others had experienced the fear of a family member being detained.
Kevin Arroyo, 16, said his parents immigrated to the United States, and he was privileged to be born in the U.S. But the crackdown in immigration enforcement across the country has made his family scared to go outside. Arroyo sometimes does the family grocery shopping because his parents are worried they will be stopped by immigration officials because of how they look.
“It’s affecting me personally, and it’s affecting a lot of people in this country,” he said.
The protest was organized by North Eugene High School’s Amnesty International Club. Joci Barnes, 16, skipped her algebra 2 class to protest because of her opposition to ICE’s detention of children.
“They shouldn’t have to be subjected to that kind of hate at such a young age,” Barnes said. “Their parents came here to try to give them the best life, and they have to face so much hate for just existing.”
Barnes said it was her first time participating in a walkout. Being surrounded by others who had the same opinions as her was empowering, she said.
For Lucio Salgado Kincaid, 16, his opposition to President Donald Trump’s current immigration enforcement policies is both personal and ethical. Kincaid’s dad immigrated to the United States more than 15 years ago. And he knows that some immigrants have been detained, despite having legal status and a clean criminal record, with no reason given for their detention.
“I think that it is wrong,” Salgado Kincaid said. “Considering that we’re supposed to be a democracy and the people are supposed to have fair trials, fair due process. If, say, they are to be deported, then there should be at least a reason.”
