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Students stage walkouts as part of 'ICE Out' protests
Students at various schools across the country staged walkouts protesting ICE on Friday.
BERKLEY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Across the country, students are participating in coordinated walkouts from high schools and college campuses.
The backstory:
Students left class during the school day to march, rally, or gather at public spaces as part of the broader ICE Out movement.
They gathered to send the message that Immigration Enforcement activities should be curtailed following fatal shootings in Minneapolis and violent clashes between the feds and protesters.
The effort was largely symbolic but in Berkley some adults in the community also attended the high school protest, like Amanda Treppa.
"What do we do when ICE actually comes into our communities how do we form together and protect those who are most vulnerable," she said. "(We need to) develop that along with the city, legislators and elected officials."
Jessica Vilani also attended the protest.
"Activism is an amazing first step for these young students here and its incredible to see such a (turn out) of their support for this."
These efforts are not dissimilar to other protests we’ve seen across the nation aimed at drawing attention to federal immigration enforcement and signaling opposition through absence rather than disruption inside classrooms.
Many walkouts are student-organized, spread through social media, and framed as a form of civil protest.
At the same time, some businesses voluntarily closed for the day or limiting operations in solidarity.
Dessert Oasis in Ferndale stayed open today, but workers inside stand with the protestors.
"It wasn’t quite an option to close for the day," said Nahan Hamoud, a founder at the business. "We didn’t feel it would progress the goals of the movement and of the solidarity with community.
"We are open today and doing our best to support as many people in our community as we can."
Some Democratic state senators are working on a packages of bills amines at restricting cooperation from state and local governments.
The efforts focus on barring ICE activity in places like schools, hospitals, and churches.
Republicans point to the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and say the proposals are not lawful.
The Source: Information for this story was taken from interviews with those protesting and a Berkley business founder.