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Hundreds of Portland-area students staged walkouts protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on Tuesday afternoon, gathering at various locations across the city.
The walkouts were the product of an effort by Lincoln High School student Jasmine Hamilton, who says she knows friends affected by ICE action and wanted to be a voice for people who couldn’t speak out themselves. Hamilton, 15, said 11 schools from around the Portland area, most of them part of Portland Public Schools, were joining in on the protest.
More than 100 Lincoln students marched from the school grounds to Portland City Hall, chanting slogans like “ICE off our streets.” And many students were thrilled by the presence of a couple of Portland frogs—one of whom told WW he dressed up in his inflatable costume after receiving an invite from the students.
The walkouts are among the latest Portland protests against federal immigration crackdowns, which appear to have scaled up dramatically in the region. (The latest data from the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition shows 50 reported detentions in the Willamette Valley between Dec. 8 and Dec. 14, a number largely in keeping with a pace that The Oregonian says increased in September.) Hamilton says while many adults might have the impression that high school students aren’t educated on politics, the youth voice is important to pay attention to.
“We do have to vote in the next election. This is something that should cause concern for us, especially because we have friends that are impacted by this and family members too,” she says. “I just want to empower the people and let them know that their voice matters.”
Federal immigration activity has affected PPS, especially in parts of North Portland, where several parents have reportedly been detained as they dropped their children off at school. The district has trained its staff to deal with immigration enforcement officers, Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong wrote to families in a Monday email. It is district policy not to disclose student or staff records to ICE officers. PPS does not work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security without a valid judicial warrant.
“Continued reports of ICE activity in North Portland have caused fear, confusion, and trauma for families and staff,” Armstrong wrote in the Monday message. “In PPS, we are deeply committed to the safety and well-being of all students, including those whose families may feel especially vulnerable at this moment.”
A Mexican American student at Lincoln says he felt inspired to join the protests because the issues at hand are personal to him. He knows many family members and community members who are undocumented and living in the U.S. illegally—a number that at one time included his own. He said it was important to stand against ICE and current deportations.
“Back then, if I lost my parents, that’d be heartbreaking for me,” says the freshman student, 14. “I can’t imagine kids getting their parents taken away from them and sent to a different country.”
Tom Hastings, a member of the Portland Peace Team, was one of several volunteers helping escort students at the walkout. Hastings, 75, says the Trump administration has radically changed the mission of ICE and border patrol. “When they start arresting U.S. citizens just because they’re brown or they speak Spanish…it doesn’t work for me at all,” he says.
He adds it’s inspiring to watch a new generation engage in peaceful protest. “I love that,” he says, “they’re younger than my grandchildren.”
Leo, a junior at Northwest Academy, helped mobilize students from his school to join in on the Portland student protests. He says he was inspired to mobilize because of the “continued disregard” the Trump administration has displayed for the legal protections that immigrants and American citizens are afforded.
The 17-year-old says he feels “very concerned” about the future and the implications of the administration’s decisions, but adds he’s hopeful the upcoming generation will help shape a better future.
“The youth is strong, and we are out here and fighting, and we’re not gonna just back down and allow ICE to kidnap our neighbors,” he says. “We will continue to resist.”
