Students from high schools in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti participated in walkouts Wednesday afternoon to protest the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Michigan communities.
As temperatures topped out in the low 20s, the students walked from Kerrytown to a nearby federal building, chanting “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here" and holding signs with slogans like “Immigrants built America.”
Mia Fletcher is a student at Community High School. “Fundamentally, I think everyone has a right to feel safe where they live, whether or not they're documented, whether or not they came here quote-unquote legally,” she said. “We're all human beings and we should all feel safe where we live, and the fact that that isn't happening and the fact that people are being taken out of their homes is unacceptable to me.”
ICE has claimed legal authority to arrest people in their homes without a warrant in cases where officers believe the people are in the U.S. without authorization and are "likely to escape" before a warrant can be issued.
“I think it's really important that we all get out here, that we all know what's happening because the next people that are going to be running this world is us,” Fletcher said of her classmates.
Rosie Meisler also attends Community High School. They said the walkout is meant to illustrate the belief that nobody should feel like they're illegal or unsafe coming to school.
“Everyone should be welcome in a country that was built on immigration and that immigrants really make what it is,” Meisler said. “I hope people notice that if even the high schoolers are organizing and acting, then maybe it's time for us to as well.”
In a speech to the students participating in the walkout, Meisler urged people to call their representatives and participate in more protests. “Never be satisfied with an unkind or unfair world,” Meisler said.
Skyline, Pioneer and Huron high schools in Ann Arbor and Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti also organized walkouts.
Jeff Gaynor is a former Ann Arbor public school teacher of over 30 years. He said it’s gratifying to see young students making their voices heard. “We need everybody, young and old, coming together to protest the lack of civil rights, of human rights, the abuses that are happening now.”
“ICE is doing horrible things around the country, the attentions in Minnesota, but they're in our communities here,” Gaynor continued. “They were picking up parents in Ypsilanti. They picked up workers here in Ann Arbor.”
“This is our common humanity that we all have to fight for,” Gaynor said.
The Trump administration has said its immigration enforcement tactics are making the country safer.
