An estimated one thousand Palo Alto students walked out of class at noon on Jan. 30, joining a nationwide protest against actions taken by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota.
The protest consisted of students from Palo Alto HIgh School, Gunn High School and Castilleja School, along with local teachers, parents and community members. It started at the intersection of El Camino Real and Embarcadero Road.
Brian J. Miller, a junior who helped organize the walkout, said he felt a sense of urgency to act.
“I realized it’s time to go,” Miller said. “It’s time to do something, and we did something. I got together a group of people that were there ready to support me. We made graphics, we made emails and we got this going.”
From an administrative standpoint, Principal Brent Kline said student participation often involves complicated social dynamics.
“I think most students are here for a purpose, then some others will just follow, right?” Kline said. “It’s what kids do. It’s a thing that I think is important for you to to not only be in but to understand why you’re in, so I hope that most of our kids understand what it is.”
Students were able to excuse their absence through California Senate Bill 955, which permits an excusal once per school year to engage in a civic or political event with parent approval.
For senior Camila Martinez the protest felt personal.
“My mom is an immigrant, my dad is an immigrant, they came here to work hard for a better future for me and my sister,” Martinez said. “I’m first gen. I’m Chicana. I’m here to represent my people, my country.”
Freshman Pine Paldi Bracho said the protest was meant to show support for communities across the country.
“This protest is a solidarity movement with the people of Minneapolis, the people of Chicago and the people of Los Angeles who are, in their cities, experiencing fear,” Paldi Bracho said. “People are afraid to leave their homes, so we’re saying ‘we see you, we support you, we agree that ICE has to get out.’”
Junior Maya Angela Cheng said this fear stems from ICE’s excessive authority.
“The amount of power ICE has been given is much more than is needed for the task that they’ve been assigned with,” Cheng said. “And quite frankly, they are definitely abusing it, so we want to defund them and also raise awareness about how these acts have been completely inhumane.”
Despite worries about a lack of impact, Sophomore Makaio Lopez said protests are necessary to spread awareness, even if change is gradual.
“From an outside perspective, it seems like it doesn’t benefit much and not a lot is going to happen,” Lopez said. “But I think it’s important to spread awareness to everybody, because they might see a school doing it, and then other schools might do it. The way to make change is if everybody participates.”
Specifically, Paldi Bracho said youth involvement has historically been pivotal to protest movements.
“High schools and colleges have always been the front lines of any symbol of any resistance movement,” Paldi Bracho said. “It’s always been youth who have stood up first, because we are young, and we have our own ideas, and we’re learning of the injustices in the world, and we want a better world.”
Matt Schlegel of the Fridays for Future Palo Alto, who has participated in past protests against ICE, said it was inspiring to see hundreds of young people at the protest.
“This is us showing our strength as a democracy,” Schlegel said. “And I think more and more people are realizing that, and they’re coming out and showing their democratic power to be here. I’m so excited that students are realizing that it’s their time to come out.”
This impact was also recognized by the students themselves. Gunn senior Milcah Morrison said the collaboration between schools stood out.
“Seeing all of these schools come together honestly just made me want to cry,” Morrison said. “People are actually being affected by this cause every single day. People are being hurt. People are being taken away from their families. And even though it might not be something that happens in this area, it is still affecting other people, and we should be very, very, very aware.”
At the end of the day, Miller said the protest showed the strength of community.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than the power of community,” Miller said. “There’s nothing negative. There’s no harm to anybody. The goal is awareness, peace and togetherness for all of us, not just in Palo Alto, not just in California, not just left and right, but the whole United States.”
