West and City High School students walked out of class Thursday afternoon to protest United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Led by West senior Jack Overholt, students met in the school’s commons after C lunch to head over to the Pentacrest in downtown Iowa City.
Overholt, along with a few friends, made a variety of flyers to post around the school and on Instagram. They also had to get a permit from the city to hold the protest. When asked why they decided to go through the work to do this, they gave a simple answer: “Because ICE sucks.”
Since Trump’s inauguration a year ago, the number of people held in immigration detention across the country has increased to around 70,000 in January, according to Trac Immigration records. This number stood at around 40,000 a year ago.
More recently, ICE has come under fire after killing two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Renee Good was a 37-year-old woman who was shot by an ICE agent while in her car Jan. 7. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that Good was trying to run over ICE agents and harassing them. Footage showed she was driving away.
Two weeks later, 37-year-old Intensive Care Unit nurse Alex Pretti was shot multiple times by an ICE agent. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that he had wielded a gun, but footage showed that he was only filming them on his phone when tackled. It was after he was pushed to the ground that they realized he had concealed and carried a gun, which he was legally licensed to carry. The semi-automatic handgun was removed from his person before he was shot.
Also in the state, a five-year-old was detained by ICE agents, and clergy and other faith leaders were arrested for peacefully protesting outside an airport. Thousands then took to the streets in Minneapolis to protest against ICE and called for justice and the abolition of ICE.
Students from West High and City High marched at the Pentacrest to protest against ICE’s actions. After marching, multiple West High students spoke. Among them was Eva Ortega Lopez ‘26 who, as a Spanish student, has been personally affected.
“I had my little sister, 13 years old, ask me if we had to stop speaking Spanish to keep ourselves safe,” Ortega Lopez said. “My ten-year-old brother asking me if we’re going to get taken by ICE is kind of another reason to be doing this.”
After a panel of planned speakers, the mic was opened to other protesters. Some of them, such as senior Becca Westfall, called for due process.
”ICE is tearing families apart. They try to tell us that this is how it has always been, that they’re doing this for our country and for patriotism,” Westfall said. “Do you know what real patriotism is? Real patriotism is standing up for our constitutional rights, for due process. Real patriotism is standing against tyranny and violence.”
While the protest was mostly high school students, community members, both young and old, joined them in demonstrating. Iowa City Council Member Oliver Weilein attended and also spoke.
”Never fall into the trap of blaming somebody who is just looking for a better life,” Weilein said. “It is up to us to welcome people, to do what we need to do, atone for what we’ve done and never punch down. This is so important, what you guys are doing, and never fall into the trap of blaming each other. We are all siblings on this beautiful Earth.”
From the Bay Area to Arkansas to Iowa City, young people are using their right to protest as a way to advocate for their beliefs.
”We’re under voting age. This is what we can do, and we’re going to be the ones who are going to grow up and we’re going to influence the legislation of the future,” Ortega Lopez said. “So the people who need to get up, people need to get off their f—ing high horse and realize that this affects everybody.”
Overholt hopes that their protest helped not only advocate against ICE, but encourage other young people to protest again.
”I think everyone who joined today was touched enough to want to do this again,” they said. “And they have hope for the future.”
