Immigration Protest at San Marcos High School Brings Out Hundreds of Students

At 10:38 a.m., when most San Marcos High School students would be slugging their way on to second period, about 400 students came pouring out of the school across the sidewalks of Hollister Avenue beating drums, chanting, and holding posters painted with slogans to protect immigrant rights. “Protege la Raza” and “honk if you support families standing together,” the signs read. The students wore sombreros and danced together in the crowd, smiling, waving Mexican and Guatemalan flags, and chanting “Support! Don’t deport!”

The students were protesting the Trump administration’s policies that allow agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to make arrests in public schools, which has reduced student attendance across the country and ignited fear and anxiety. In the face of ICE‘s presence in Goleta and Santa Barbara to make arrests, San Marcos students are showing anything but fear.

The Thursday march, organized by a school club called MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán, in English), sent students down to the Magnolia shopping center, then back along Hollister Avenue to stop at Turnpike Road in front of their school. Cars honked their horns in solidarity with the students.

Fatima Arias-Zarate and Johanna Gomez-Lopez are co-presidents of San Marcos’s MEChA, which seeks to empower Latino and Chicano youth and provide an inclusive space for student unity on campus. They stated that with the ICE raids taking place around the country, the club can serve as an environment to advocate and stand for the people. “We’re fighting against injustice but also creating unity — not just for Hispanics but for this country, where all people should be able to have rights,” said Gomez-Lopez.

Participants who joined in the walkout were not limited to club members. Luca Zadeh said he joined because his friends from the club informed him of the walkout. Another student in the walkout, Amy Amador, said, “It’s amazing because we can be the voice for people who don’t have that.”

Alongside the students, community members came out to show support. One, who identified himself as John M., said, “I look up to these young people who are doing something about this. I wish I could have been like them at their age. They are resilient, independent, and strong.” He and other community members were there to look out for the students’ safety. “A couple of cars drove by saying some mean things to the students,” he said.

At the front of the crowd were multiple school employees, like Alex Sheldon, the assistant principal, who said he was also there to make sure students were safe throughout the demonstration. The walkout lasted until about 12:30 p.m.

Ed Zuchelli, chief of communications for the Santa Barbara Unified School District, released a statement regarding the walkouts. “We encourage and support our students in making their voices heard and engaging in their local community. We support students in researching, asking questions, and engaging in both local and global issues that are important to them as they learn to become engaged, informed, and productive citizens.”

“It affects so many people,” said Carmen Esparza, another student participating in the walkout. “This demonstration is in part to help show what the cause of the effects are.”