Miles of high school students in the United States (equivalent to high school in Mexico) have left the classrooms to take to the streets against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), in a mobilization that has spread to more than 36 states and that places youth at the center of the immigration debate.
In Utah, Maine, Maryland, Wisconsin, California y Nueva Yorkteenagers with backpacks and megaphones have organized walkouts to report raids, deportations and operations which, they assure, directly affect their families and communities.
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In Chicago and other cities, the slogan “ICE Out” has become a recurring slogan. The protests include marches, momentary blockades of streets and concentrations in public squares.
Texas concentrates the greatest political tension. There, where more than half of the students in public schools are of Hispanic origin, the governor Greg Abbott warned that districts could lose funding if they “facilitate” strikes.
He also maintained that the Freedom of expression does not protect leaving class to protest. The State Education Agency He even warned about possible administrative interventions in schools that support the mobilizations.
School officials warned of suspensions or restrictions
Despite this, at least ten strikes were recorded in the Dallas area last week, with hundreds of participants. In Houston y Austinschool leaders warned about suspensions or restrictions in extracurricular activities. Civil organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from Texasnoted that the threats could constitute unconstitutional retaliation against peaceful speech.
The students themselves have invoked legal precedents, such as the Tinker vs. 1969 Des Moineswhich recognized the rights of expression within schools. Many emphasize that, although they cannot vote, they seek to influence the public conversation.
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The movement is not limited to the streets. Young Latinos have moved the protest to social networks and virtual spacesincluding video games, where they organize symbolic marches and disseminate materials on legal rights.
The result is a youth wave that, beyond sympathies or rejections, redefines the scope of student activism in an electoral year marked by migration as a central axis.
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