Some 1,200 Modesto high school students join walkout protest against ICE violence

Modesto high school students walked out of classes as part of a massive citywide youth protest against ICE and the Trump administration’s immigration policy Thursday afternoon.

Modesto City Schools spokeswoman Linda Mumma Solorio said an estimated 1,200 students joined the walkout, which was not sponsored by any of the schools or district. 

The rally was organized by the local No Kings USA chapter and circulated across social media. 

Students from several schools gathered in front of Memorial Medical Center on Coffee Road and Briggsmore Avenue throughout the day. Solorio said as students left their campuses, teachers and school staff followed the crowd to “ensure their safety and monitor the situation.” They also kept students out of the streets, off of street lights and encouraged them to pick up any trash left behind. 

Students from all seven Modesto high schools staged a walkout in protest against ongoing immigration enforcement actions occurring across the country; each school agreed to meet at different locations across the city.

Participating student organizers came from Johansen, Beyer, Downey, Enochs and Davis high schools. 

Young people filled every corner of the intersection in front of Memorial hospital, holding flags representing Latino countries, signs calling for ICE to be abolished and blowing whistles. A stream of cars honked as they drove past in solidarity with the students.

“This is important because we’re the youth of America, we’re going to be the ones that are going to be making decisions later on in life,” said Anahy Diaz, one of the student organizers at Beyer High School. “I feel like it’s better that we start paving that way now.”

Many students carried homemade signs with slogans like “Jeffrey + Donald, besties always”, “Sugar, Spice, Abolish ICE” and “No one is illegal on stolen land”.

“We’re a Christian family, so we believe love should be spread everywhere, not hate,” said Cherish Garza, a 17-year-old senior at Modesto High School. 

Garza was joined by her 13-year-old brother, Thomas, an eighth grader at Mark Twain Junior High School in front of Gallo Center of the Arts in downtown Modesto with roughly 50 other students.

Junior high schoolers were not officially mentioned in the social media call, but many felt compelled to speak out, chanting “let your voice be heard” as they passed under the Modesto archway. 

The group of middle schoolers were chaperoned by a handful of Modesto High School seniors who wanted to “make sure these kids aren’t doing anything stupid”, said Iso Garcia, 17. 

He said his fellow seniors would join the group later in the day, as many were stopped by school police officers during the scheduled walkout. His sign read “Existing is not a crime”.

No arrests were made and no injuries were reported, according to officials.