The federal crackdown on immigration is being protested across the nation, and JHop students are joining the movement.
An organized group of JHop students recently walked out of A lunch in the cafeteria to the track loop as Principal Brittnee Scott and police officers monitored the protest.
Students who felt strongly about the issue were observed marching on the track, holding signs, and chanting slogans against the continuing immigration campaign from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol.
“Little kids are being deported, and I feel like it’s so wrong,” sixth-grader Braelyn Rose said.
Principal Brittnee Scott was given many directions by the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis, such as to protect instructional time and make sure the students are safe. She talked with the students and the state to confirm the guidelines and restrictions of the protest.
There were multiple protests planned at JHop on the day that students walked out. Another protest that attempted to leave school grounds was not authorized, and its organizers were discouraged from continuing. The students were sent home after refusing Principal Scott’s guidelines.
“They were made aware of the guidelines, that during instructional time, this will not happen. Those students refused to follow my instructions, and their parents were called to the campus and were remove,” Scott said. “I warned them about three more times in the moment that instructional time must be protected… and they refused to comply with those, so those students did leave campus that day with their parents.”
On direct orders from President Donald Trump, ICE and the Border Patrol federal agencies have launched operations across the country. People have protested their tactics, most notably in places like Minneapolis where ICE and the Border Patrol were involved in the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
In January, seventh-grader Alex Engelen participated in the “ICE out for Good” protest in St. Petersburg in reaction to the Good’s death at the hands of an ICE agent.
“ICE is not behaving as it should,” he said. “It’s not following rule of law or due process, and I think that it’s our duty as American citizens to stand up to corruption and protest.”
