Dallas ISD students hold large ICE walkout

Dallas ISD students walk out to protest ICE

Chanting students walked out of Dallas ISD high schools on Tuesday to protest ICE immigration actions. The walkouts were planned and carried out by students at at least half a dozen high schools.

DALLAS - Dallas Independent School District campuses saw a wave of walkouts on Tuesday.

The walkout at Townview Magnet Center was one of North Texas’ largest walkouts in protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

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.

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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.

Additional walkouts were held at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts and W.T. White High School.

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. She has clients who are in ICE custody and their American children are living with fear and uncertainty.

"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.

Arroyo said the problem is very real, and it's something people don't talk about enough.

"I think that if the governor wants to ignore that children are being affected, then I think these are the types of things that we are going to continue to see," 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.

As far as punishing students, the Supreme Court has said students do not "shed their constitutional rights for freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." However, speech that causes substantial disruption can be restricted. Walking out of class can be considered a disruption and students can be disciplined with an unexcused absence. But that punishment must be unbiased or not based on the reason for the protest.