Approximately 300 students walked out of school on February 20 at 12:45 p.m. to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE. Students lined up 291 Highway, with chants of “No more ICE” and cheers as passing cars honked. Students held signs reading, “No one is illegal on stolen land,” and “The only thing stronger than hate is love. Only the first names of students will be provided to protect identities.

A student named Leo organized the protest to show the world that the younger generation does not support ICE and that they are willing to “do something about it.” 

Leo, who is Hispanic, also said, “ICE has been mainly affecting my culture and other people of color, and I just feel like I need to stand up for it.”

Students said ICE affects their families and places outside of Lee’s Summit High School as well.

Student Emma’s mom, Jenny, teaches ESL (English as a second language) at two elementary schools. Jenny has students from all over the world, including Germany, Pakistan, and many students from Spanish speaking countries. 

Emma said Jenny’s students and their families are afraid of getting “torn apart” because of ICE. “This is something that means so much to me and affects my mom and so many of my friends on a daily basis, and so many people in our country.” Emma attended the protest to stand up for these people. 

For others, this protest is more personal to their own lives.

Student Sarah’s mom immigrated from Guatemala and her dad immigrated from Peru. Sarah said her dad was undocumented for part of her childhood, and she lived in constant fear that he would be detained or deported by ICE.

“This protest is very close to me and very close to my heart, because for the longest time, I had just spent years in fear that one day my dad might be taken away from me, even when I least expected it. When I spent summers with my dad, I would just cry at night thinking, one wrong move, and my dad could be gone the next day. I would consider where we were speaking Spanish, I would take into account how many white people there were, and how many people looked like me,” Sarah said. 

Student Patricia said she came to support her friends from immigrant families. Patricia said she believes that ICE is mainly targeting Hispanic immigrants.

“It’s an attack on Hispanic people in general. Because I feel like they are just targeting by race, by ethnicity, if we talk Spanish then we’re an easy target, if we look brown we’re an easy target, and I just think that it’s morally wrong,” Patricia said. 

Patricia moved to the United States from Puerto Rico when she was young to find better medical help, and has lived in the United States since then. 

One student came to ensure that protestors were safe and had access to medical help, if needed. Zack supplied water for protestors and brought a first aid kit for emergencies.

“I just really wanted to help people,” Zack said. Zack wore a gas mask, sunglasses, and a hat to remain unrecognizable from drivers passing the school. “I know a lot of people on the roads, they tend to take pictures and target people,” Zack said.

By attending this protest, students believe that they’re practicing lessons learned in school.

“Our teachers always tell us about history and about revolutions and how to stand up to fascists and Nazis in the government when they are wrong. And this shows that we listened and we learned something. And that history class wasn’t just another class, that it was a lesson,” student A’Lonna said.