Dallas ISD students hold large ICE walkout
DALLAS - Students at Townview Magnet Center in the Dallas Independent School District staged one of North Texas’ largest walkouts in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Additional walkouts are planned throughout the district on Tuesday.
Student ICE Walkouts
What we know:
The student-organized walkouts have been happening at high schools across North Texas and other parts of the state over the past few weeks.
The walkout at Townview Magnet Center on Tuesday was one of the largest in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with hundreds of students holding signs and chanting near the school’s main entrance.
Dallas ISD police were present during the peaceful demonstration.
North Texas students walk out of class to protest ICE
Despite warnings from Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency, high school students from several North Texas cities walked out of class to protest the ongoing immigration crackdown.
What they're saying:
The students said their walkout was to show solidarity and support for families and community members impacted by ICE operations in Dallas.
"We've seen the fear in our communities. We're using our voices because we have a right to speak out on issues that directly impact our lives and our sense of safety," according to a news release from the ICE Out of Dallas Student Initiative.
Immigration attorney Belinda Arroyo said she’s seeing that impact first hand. The parents of students who are United States citizens are being detained by ICE.
"I have people who have as many as three U.S. citizen children to as much as eight U.S. citizen children. All of those children are attending Texas school districts everyday. They are dealing with the weight of their parents being detained and potentially deported and then there's also students who are dealing with their parents being deported and yet they’re showing up to our schools every day. And I would just like to tell you what I've told many people is that as this mass deportation effort goes on, this will be the generation of children who remember this administration deported their parents or attempted to deport their parents," she said.
The other side:
Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Education Agency have warned school districts that there could be consequences for encouraging or supporting the walkouts.
Districts could face funding cuts or other legal liability if they allow students to walk out of class.
The governor has already ordered the TEA to investigate some school districts in Central Texas, where walkouts were held last week.
The Source: The information in this story comes from the SKY 4 helicopter and an interview with immigration attorney Belinda Arroyo.