Defying administrators’ orders, Chesterfield students and employees walked out Friday to protest immigration enforcement
Just days before Chesterfield students planned to walk out during the school day to protest the federal government’s crackdown on immigration, teachers were told they could not join.
Chesterfield County Public Schools told employees “that as public school teachers, we are not allowed to be political or make a political opinion,” one teacher told The Richmonder.
But despite the county’s direction, she walked out of L.C. Bird High School with about 40 students on a cold, snowy Friday afternoon to vocalize her opposition to the federal government’s crackdown on immigration.
The teacher, whose name The Richmonder is withholding due to the potential for retaliation, teaches multilingual students. She said her students have become “really scared to come to school” in light of mass deportation efforts conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“I have students who are American-born citizens who are coming to school with their passport because their family is afraid that just because they speak Spanish or are Latina, they could be targeted,” she said.
One parent told The Richmonder that students who left class were sent an email informing them they would have to serve detention time.
The Richmonder reached out to a Chesterfield County Public Schools spokesperson for comment, but has not heard back.
“As ESL teachers, it is our job to advocate for our students,” an L.C. Bird teacher said. “This is Virginia, this is the state Barbara Johns came from. We just put a statue of her in the Capital building because she walked out, led a student walkout. How can I as a Virginia educator not look at that and see it as a positive and see it as a Virginia tradition?”
Earlier this month, Chesterfield high school students began planning a protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and petitioned for support. That effort was met with some backlash, as at least two principals sent similar emails to students’ families discouraging the act and threatening to discipline students if they walked out.
Victoria A. Ifatusin
Outside of the building, students walked out around 2:15 p.m., holding signs and the flags of places like Mexico, El Salvador and Puerto Rico.
“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” they chanted.
A 12th grader from Nicaragua told The Richmonder that she was scared, adding that ICE agents are not just targeting “people who are criminals. They are getting residents, U.S. citizens.”
“We are all in danger,” she said.
But despite the fear, she felt the responsibility to walk out with her classmates.
The student, who said she just completed her English as a second language program after arriving in the U.S. two years ago, said it was necessary for the public to know that immigrants “are not aliens.”
“We deserve to be here. We have dreams.”
Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org
