Over the past few weeks, students at schools around the country have led walkouts to protest ICE action. Students in Aurora have led multiple walkouts recently including one on Monday where police arrested several students. Many West and East Aurora students walked out again on Friday. WNIJ education reporter Peter Medlin was there.
WNIJ News Director Jenna Dooley (JD): Before we talk about today, can you tell us about the walkout earlier in the week where the students were arrested? What happened?
WNIJ education reporter Peter Medlin (PM): On Monday, students from both West and East Aurora high schools walked out and walked downtown. In that process, police say some students were blocking traffic they threw rocks and water bottles at police cars. During that situation, there's video that shows a police officer running up and tackling a 15-year-old student who's standing on the sidewalk. After that, another student rushes over and punches one of the officers.
I went to a community meeting on Thursday night, and Melissa Mendoza with Aurora Mutual Aid had just met with families of the arrested students and said the student was tackled for no good reason.
“Their statements are basically, ‘I was walking; I thought he was yelling at somebody else, so I kept walking, and then he just tackled me,” said Mendoza.
She said the student will need physical therapy. Community organizations and some local politicians are demanding the charges be dropped. Several of those students are facing charges, and the Kane County State's Attorney announced there will be an independent review of the ‘excessive force’ allegations.
(JD): There was another walkout today. What did it look like?
(PM): Very different. This time, there was a lot of planning, especially from local parents. There were lots of parents out there in yellow vests to make sure students stayed on the sidewalk and weren't getting out into traffic. It was very peaceful. There were hundreds of students from multiple different schools, West and East Aurora, lots and lots of music, lots of people driving by, giving supportive honks.
I talked with a few of those students. There was an eighth-grade student who said they were there because they have family who have been deported by ICE in the past year. This is a heavily Hispanic area. 87% of East Aurora students are Hispanic, and so lots of families have been affected by this. I also talked with another student, a West Aurora High School senior named Oliver Zietlow:
“I've seen so much of ICE attacking people, brutally kidnapping them,” they said. “And I don't stand for it.”
They said ICE isn't respecting their neighbors’ rights, and that the walkout is way to draw attention to that.
(JD): Did the students you talk to want their school to change any policies?
(PM): The students I talked to didn't mention it. I know there have been immigration actions around East Aurora schools. State Sen. Karina Villa was there, and lawmakers recently passed the “Safe schools for All Act” that went into effect the beginning of this year. Basically, it makes schools have a plan and process in place for what to do if ICE shows up. Here’s what she said about East Aurora:
“I have received reports from the community that they want me to make sure to look into whether or not the ‘Safe Schools for All Act’ is being followed,” said Sen. Villa. “They want to make sure that there is a clear policy in place, and so my office is currently following up with board members and administration to make sure that those policies are in place.”
I've also talked with East Aurora parents who say immigration enforcement has been very traumatic for many kids and that they need more mental health support from the schools.
There have been lots of these walkouts, and so this is a story we will be continuing to cover over the next few weeks.
