Lorain High students walk out of class to protest immigration enforcement

LORAIN — Hundreds of Lorain High School students walked out of class Thursday afternoon to protest President Donald Trump and an ongoing national immigration crackdown. Carrying handmade signs, Mexican and Puerto Rican flags and chanting slogans against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, students marched around the high school's property under the watchful eye of school staff. Thursday's action began as a group chat, and grew via word of mouth between students, sophomore Anastasia Kelly, 15, said. She and her cousin and fellow sophomore, Xochitle Sandoval-Bahena, 16, each carried a corner of the Mexican flag in a mass of fellow Titans. Anastasia said several of her friends met with district administrators about Thursday's protest after organizing themselves in the group chat. "It's amazing — it's great we finally found something we all agree on," Sandoval-Bahena said of marching with her peers that afternoon. Anastasia agreed. "I feel like our school is very diverse, so this is very important to our school," she said. Sophomore Adrianna Cofield, 17, said she followed the news coming out of Minneapolis on social media, where last month federal agents shot and killed two people during an immigration enforcement surge. Nurse Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents after being disarmed by them on Jan. 24, and mother Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent earlier in January. Adrianna is politically active, she said, and a strong advocate for human rights. "I believe everyone deserves equality," she said, and believed it was amazing that the protest Thursday grew out of social media posts, noting how the sites could be used for good. Superintendent Jeff Graham stood on one of the sidewalks as students passed by, with signs emblazoned with "ICE out," "No one is illegal on stolen land" and other slogans. He said students were very clear Thursday's protest would happen, and the district did its best to make sure it was safe and peaceful. "The only things you see on TV is the violence and the awfulness," Graham said. "This is a civic opportunity, a teachable moment … As you can see, nothing but class." The district did not sponsor, encourage or initiate Thursday's protest, he said, but allowed students to exercise their voices safely, on school grounds. The protest at Lorain High came days after a similar civic action at Lakeview Park North on Saturday, which saw hundreds of residents call for accountability within the country's immigration enforcement and the abolition of ICE. The bulk of Lorain County's Latino population is Puerto Rican, followed by Mexicans, Cubans and individuals from other South American countries, and many families have mixed citizenship status — meaning undocumented parents or partners may have children who are U.S. citizens. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.