Marion High School students to protest ICE this Friday

This Friday around 150 students at Marion High School will walk out of classes in protest of the recent actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) around the country.

The protest, organized by several MHS students, will take place at 1:13 p.m. after the school’s final lunch period. Senior class president Trevor Morgan, one of the students who helped organize the event, said the walkout is meant to show solidarity with immigrant communities.

“We just want to stand in solidarity with the immigrant students, families and communities impacted by ICE,” Morgan said. “By walking out, we are choosing to speak up for human rights, fairness and the belief that every person deserves safety, respect and opportunity.”

Morgan said that the organizers have collaborated with both the school and local law enforcement to make sure that the protest is done “by the book.” Participants in the protest will need to have their parents excuse them from any missed classes.

Joe Hancock, a sophomore at the high school who initially suggested the walkout, said he felt inspired after seeing similar demonstrations in Carmel and Indianapolis. He said that recent ICE operations in Minnesota that killed two American citizens troubled him.

“I want to make our voices heard,” Hancock said. “That it can be made known that we don’t condone the actions going on, and we don’t want ICE to come into our community and tear us up and leave us how Minnesota is right now.”

Hancock said that they’ve garnered support from students across the political spectrum, including several students who identify themselves as right-leaning. 

“We need more people like that because they’re not going to listen to only people from the left saying that we don’t want ICE here,” Hancock said.

Freshman Carter Beck said the movement has around 140 followers on Instagram and 100 on Facebook. Beck said he believes everyone is entitled to basic human rights regardless of where they’re from.

“You can’t just find someone on the street that looks different or speaks a different language and say that they’re illegal and just take them,” Beck said. “We want people to see what’s happening and understand that this isn’t okay and that we have to change stuff,”