New Orleans, Jan. 20 – High school students at three city schools staged a two-hour walkout against ICE on the one-year anniversary of Trump’s second term inauguration. The schools were NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, New Harmony High School, and Benjamin Franklin High School, whose students led several walkouts over the past few years in support of LGBTQIA+ rights.
Chants captured on social media include “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido / The people, united, will never be defeated” and “Hate does not make America great.”
Some signs read: “ICE = Gestapo,” “Hot people melt ICE,” “ICE out,” and “shame.”
A report on New Orleans Public Radio included an excerpt from a statement released by the students. It said that they “refuse to accept a reality shaped by fascism, tyranny, and fear.”
The New Orleans action was part of a nationwide wave of student walkouts on Jan. 20. Students at schools in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Hartford, and Chicago staged similar protests against ICE. News reports said that tens of thousands walked out at over 800 high schools and colleges in all 50 states.
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