Chicago: Sullivan High School students walk out, demanding “ICE out of Chicago!”

Chicago, IL – In the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, February 28, around 150 students walked out of Sullivan High School to protest against ICE. The students, with support of community groups, were able to have a successful walkout and add to the visible resistance in Chicago.

The Immigrants’ Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC – CAARPR) played a big supporting role in this walkout, helping students with flyering-materials, posters, banners, megaphone, etc. The IRWC met the students outside, alongside other community groups like Rad Rogers Park, Kabataan Alliance, and New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC).

“Let us live in peace”

“We will not let you take our families from us. We are now more united than ever. And we are here to resist!” said a senior at Sullivan High School, as they opened for the small rally in front of the building.

“How is this fair? How is any of this fair? Why can’t we pursue our education in peace? Why can’t we live without constant fear and anxiety?” a high school student asked the crowd, expressing the fear that they, and many students with immigrant family members, have since Donald Trump has taken office.

Next, a member of Kabataan Alliance spoke in solidarity with the students at Sullivan and of the fear that Filipino migrants are also feeling under these attacks, stating, “People are scared to say anything about being undocumented. There’s a lot of stigma. We really need to fight against that. It is not our fault that we are forced to migrate from our home countries.” With the United States’ military and economic intervention in the Philippines causing these migrations, there are around 300,000 to 1 million Filipino immigrants who are undocumented in the U.S.

”For the students here who marched out, I want you to know that was brave and what you’re doing right now is powerful. It is right to act in civil disobedience when injustice is happening!” said Gio Araujo from New SDS at UIC in support of the students. They talked briefly about the walkout the New SDS at UIC organized at their university, showing that students everywhere are protesting against ICE in their schools and campuses.

Araujo continued, “We at the New SDS, and right now the Sullivan students, are part of this big movement to build this visible resistance against the reactionary Trump agenda. For many of us, the next four years are gonna be more of this, more of building a movement against racism and reaction in this country.”

Finally, Angel Naranjo of the IRWC ended the rally stating, “This here is what we gotta be doing, resisting. Powerfully and visibly! We need to get more organized and mobilized. We need to ramp it up, we need to turn up the heat!”

Naranjo continued, “Let’s keep it up! Let’s build connections, get in contact, because this fight is not over, it’s only the beginning. From May 1st to May 5th in this city we are going to have a round of protests!” Naranjo hinted at the planned mass May Day demonstrations that the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) and the Consejo de Resistencia en Defensa del Inmigrante are preparing for.

Youth under attack!

Chicago has seen the kidnapping of family members and parents of Chicano/Latino youth by ICE. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have been targeted. Back on January 29, a man in the Little Village neighborhood was kidnapped by ICE, after he and his wife had dropped off their child at school. And most recently, February 26, even outside of CPS, a father was taken outside of the Soto High School/Idar Elementary charter schools.

These attacks on immigrant communities have caused fear, causing an attendance decrease of Chicano/Latino students in CPS schools. The most active young people have understood the need to mobilize and create a visible powerful resistance against these attacks. Break the wave of fear and anxiety with action and resistance. Immigrants and the youth are under attack, the students are ready to stand up and fight back!

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #ImmigrantRights #HighSchool #SDS #NAARPR #IRWC #Featured

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/chicago-sullivan-high-school-students-walk-out-demanding-ice-out-of-chicago?pk_campaign=rss-feed