At 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday Feb. 4, hundreds of students filed out of their classrooms, signs in hand, to participate in an organized walkout protesting the recent actions carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Similar demonstrations have been increasing across the Bay Area, largely in response to the recent killings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minnesota by immigration enforcement officers. The walkout was a district-wide effort led by high school students and some middle schoolers from Joaquin Moraga Intermediate and Orinda Intermediate School.
Earlier in the day, Campo teachers were reminded at their monthly meeting to remain neutral and, according to Principal Pete Alvarez, “respect students’ longstanding constitutional right going back to the ‘Tinker’ Supreme Court Case.” Associate Principals Natalie Goepel and RobynHarrison also spoke with student leaders seniors Maneli Malboubi and Emma Hudak. They discussed the parameters for the walkout, especially the necessity for a peaceful and constructive atmosphere.
Alvarez handled coordination with the Moraga Police Department and worked directly with Police Chief King to ensure student safety. Officer Davis was also on campus, and there were a couple of unmarked cars placed in the vicinity.
Beginning in the Quad, the sea of Campo students marched to the sidewalk in front of the school and the Senior Lot chanting “ICE Out” while hoisting up signs that included slogans like “The wrong ice is melting,” “When cruelty becomes normal…compassion becomes radical,” and “Liberty and justice for all.”
What could have been just an excuse to leave 6th period early turned out to be a passionate, peaceful effort in civic engagement. From freshmen to seniors, a clear allyship was demonstrated with those fighting the current Trump administration’s immigration policies and practices.
Over the past few weeks, many students became aware of the walkout through the Campolindo Against ICE Instagram account modelled after others in the Bay Area and run by Hudak and Malboubi. The account also generated pushback by a group of anonymous students who created accounts such as “campo4ice” to organize a counter protest. While there was no sizable opposition at yesterday’s event, local activist Lisa Disbrow was in attendance, approaching students to engage in debate and offer an opposing viewpoint.
Freshman Sonali Berkes, who joined the walkout, said getting politically involved and taking non-violent action “is super important because even if it feels like you’re not doing anything speaking out is one of the most important things you can do, especially in a country where free speech is one of our main rights. We should use our freedom to tell the government that something’s wrong.”
Senior Dylan Meeks added that being part of the walkout made him and others feel like they are “actually making a difference, no matter how small.” He thinks “this is really important because it starts with the little things and goes up like grassroots.”
Senior Liv Maestre explained that she was motivated to participate in the walkout by “the situation happening in Minnesota with American citizens being killed just for obstructing vehicles or being around the [protest] scene. I just think it’s very disheartening and I think the lack of accountability taken by the DHS [Department of Homeland Security] with these killings is also very concerning. As someone who has taken a lot of AP history classes, it just really…feels like fascism.”
Junior Daniel James (DJ) Bonnin said getting politically involved through the walkout was of utmost importance for him because “[ICE] is killing innocent people and we need to get rid of that.” He believes, generally, that immigration policy should be more lenient: “I think we should let more people in. It’s stolen land anyway.”
Fellow junior Sam de Paschalis, who fulfilled the role of “hype man” by using a megaphone during the walkout, said “immigration means a lot to me because I have a lot of people who are immigrants in my life.” He believes that societally, culturally, and politically “we shouldn’t be putting a label on if they’re outsiders or not.” He also explained his opinion on the current rhetoric being pushed by the government and the Trump administration: “It’s all a lie made up by those who want to stay in power because they are scared of diversity…They say immigrants are the enemy. I think we are each other’s enemy once we divide into separate groups.”
While a protest of a couple hundred teenagers in a small, liberal town may seem like a mere drop in the bucket, Paschalis feels that taking action needs to remain a priority because he looks at it as part of a bigger picture. “Getting the entire Bay, and especially high schools, is super important because schools are marketplaces of ideas. When I see protests like this…we ultimately lead with the same messages of ‘we need to come together against this common enemy’ [ICE and the current government],” he said.
Ultimately, Alvarez concluded by saying how proud he was of Campo students and staff with how they handled the walkout, saying “I think if anything comes from this week and last week it’s [that Campo is] a place where our students can teach us to get back to dialogue as opposed to just rhetoric and spouting different opinions.”
