Hundreds of students walk out to protest ICE operations in East San Jose

San Jose, CA – Several hundred people protested in East San Jose on Monday, January 28, against recent arrests made by ICE in the predominantly Chicano neighborhood. The protest began when hundreds of students organized a walkout from Overfelt High School and marched to the King and Story Road intersection. King and Story is an historic location in the Chicano and immigrant rights movement, and was the starting place for past mega-marches.

Protesters waved Mexican flags and held signs with slogans such as, “Legalization for all,” “No somos criminales” and “Immigrant rights are civil rights.” People chanted, “Si se puede” and “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.”

The Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network, a community group that tracks and responds to deportation threats in the area, confirmed that ICE conducted operations in several locations in San Jose on January 26 and 27. These operations mainly took place in East San Jose, one of the city’s historic Chicano neighborhoods. ICE detained several people during the operations.

Overfelt student Matthew Gonzalez shared his thoughts on the operations, saying, “At first I didn’t understand quite how bad it was, but as I learned recently, a lot of the people in power don’t understand the differences between illegal immigrants and dangerous criminals.” Gonzalez continued, “I don’t think that we should be removed from this country that we’ve been in for years, that we’ve helped create and support, just because of where we came from and how we got here.”

Overfelt student Jocelyn Murillo shared similar sentiments, saying, “I just think it’s unfair that they’re coming over here and taking people that don’t deserve to be deported.”

Several faculty members from Overfelt High School joined the walkout in solidarity with their students, including Principal Vito Chiala. Chiala shared his perspective on the effects of Trump’s attacks on his students and community, saying, “I think it hurts all of us. We think about the progress that we’re trying to make, as a human race, and this is so dehumanizing for so many.”

”We really feel for our families and for the kids who feel fear in their own country every single day,” said Chiala. “I know the students feel scared, and they shouldn’t feel scared at their homes.”

Students from Alpha Cindy Avitia High School joined the walkout as well, including Coraline Ortiz. Ortiz explained why she walked out, saying, “People discriminate against Hispanics, saying they’re immigrants who don’t deserve to be here, when they’re the ones who built these buildings and houses, and who picked the food for us.”

“They just want to deport people and send them back to where they came from, but they really help the USA with picking foods, building construction, and white people wouldn’t do those jobs,” Ortiz continued.

In California, the country’s leading producer of agricultural products according to sales value, up to 75% of farmworkers are undocumented.

Gonzalez shared his appreciation for the strong showing of Chicano and immigrant pride at the protest, saying, “My grandparents, both sides, are immigrants to this country and my father always told me about our history and how we should be proud of it.”

“Honestly, I’m really proud of our community,” Gonzalez continued. “What we’ve decided to do today, I think it says a lot about Overfelt and San Jose as a whole, how we’re able to unite through injustice and fight against it. I can’t wait to see what we can do for the community in the next four years.”

There was a common feeling among the crowd that people in San Jose are ready to defend their communities from ICE’s attacks and that people will continue to protest in the streets in the weeks and months ahead. Future protests have already been announced, including those organized by Silicon Valley Immigration Committee on Sunday, February 2 and Sunday, February 9, both at 2 p.m. at the corner of Alum Rock Avenue and S King Road.

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Source: https://fightbacknews.org/hundreds-of-students-walk-out-to-protest-ice-operations-in-east-san-jose?pk_campaign=rss-feed