A school walkout on Tuesday was how Walt Whitman high schoolers in Bethesda showed their outrage toward U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Two weeks after Renee Good was fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis, these students want Montgomery County Public Schools to take measures to keep students safe.
Students want MCPS to guarantee a non-cooperation policy with ICE. And they want Whitman to have assemblies for students to learn about their civil liberties.
“I’ve heard people mention how they’ve had nightmares about ICE coming into the school and taking people or shooting them,” said Dalia, a Whitman junior who organized the walkout, “So it’s a really big concern for people our age right now.”
“We as students, as young people, need to get organized around boycotts and getting out into the streets and demanding change,” said Aden, a Whitman junior and another organizer of the walkout. “And communicating to the people that run this country that this has to change.”
“What if they come and they take my friends from me?” said Jackson, a freshman.
The walkout will count as an unexcused absence, according to students.
Also Tuesday, County Councilmembers Will Jawando and Kristin Mink announced bills addressing ICE activity in Montgomery County.
Community members can find immigration-related resources provided by the school system online, like community partners, a “Rights Card,” and more information about MCPS protocol.
Photos courtesy Evan Schwartz
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