'We're Not Going To Be Silenced': Students Hold Anti-ICE Walkout

GERMANTOWN, MD — Students at Seneca Valley High School held a walkout Thursday on campus, taking a stand against the immigration crackdown carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The "ICE Out" walkout took place between the second and third periods, from about 9:15 a.m. to 10:20 a.m., and was led by juniors Michael and Suri.

After exiting the school, dozens of students made their way toward the concourse of the school's stadium before meeting back inside at the cafeteria, where a handful of speakers were given about 20 minutes to discuss the local impact of the heightened immigration raids.

Students participating in the walkout could be heard chanting, "ICE has got to go," and "No ICE in our streets," as others carried a variety of posters calling for the removal of ICE.

One poster read, "Families should be together," as another stated, "No one is illegal on stolen land."

Jariane Martinez, who serves as the president of the junior class at Seneca Valley, told Patch that the walkout "is in support of our immigrant communities," and that the featured speakers were students who have been impacted by ICE raids held across the county.

"This is something that we want to do to showcase that as young people, we do have power, and we do have the ability to make the change that we want to see within our community," she said.

Martinez also heads the school's Students FAIR chapter, a countywide, student-led organization that fights for immigrant justice, and which organized the walkout.

Safety measures were put in place ahead of Thursday's event in coordination with school administrators and the Montgomery County Police Department. The security effort was done in order to prevent any unwanted attraction to the school grounds and ensure students remained safe since the school is located at the intersection of major roadways in Germantown.

Although the walkout was largely promoted through word of mouth, hundreds of students participated.

"I hope that this walkout shows that us, as students, while we might not have the opportunities that a lot of adults have to show action and stand up against the injustices that we're seeing, that we're still present," Martinez said.

"We're not blinded by what the media feeds to us, especially because teenagers are painted as someone who follows media blindly. We want to show people that us, as students, we are standing against ICE. We do not want ICE within our communities, and that we support our immigrant students and our immigrant communities within Montgomery County, and that we're not afraid to speak out."

"We're not going to be silenced by adults. We're not going to be silenced by the media. We're not going to be silenced by this administration."

Jariane Martinez, president of the Seneca Valley High School Students FAIR chapter

"We're going to show up with the power that we have, and do everything in our power to make sure that our community — that everybody knows that Seneca, and the people in Montgomery County overall — are against ICE and the abduction, the abuse, the kidnappings that they have perpetrated."

Over the last several months, reports of ICE agents operating in Montgomery County have been at an all-time high. Maryland is home to at least two ICE offices that are officially tasked with removal operations.

Related: Baltimore Co. Council Approves Ban On ICE Detention Centers

Jonathan Outhwaite, a Seneca Valley senior who participated in the walkout and served as one of the speakers, told Patch that he hopes the actions of the participating students highlight "that we are against what's going on, and that we believe that immigrants should have rights and that they should be able to come in and be here."

In late January, the Montgomery County Public School system worked in coordination with county government officials after confirmed reports of ICE operations near Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Bethesda Today reported. That confirmation came days after the school had held its own walkout.

Since that incident, the Montgomery County Council unanimously voted in favor of approving legislation that bars local agencies from assisting in federal immigration raids, any form of intimidation or discrimination based on an individual's immigration status, and prevents ICE from using county facilities.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has also signed emergency bills that ban agreements between ICE and local law enforcement agencies.