Blair students walk out to protest ICE deportations

At 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, students at Montgomery Blair participated in a walkout protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its illegal deportations. Blair's walkout, organized by junior Kiran Almazor and freshman Charlie Horiuchi, is one of many happening across the country as a part of the "Free America Walkout," scheduled on the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's second inauguration.

Almazor explained that he decided to organize the walkout to make sure that all Blair students were protesting safely after hearing about the nationwide walkout. "Nobody was planning this, but there was an idea about it… I knew for myself I was gonna walk out no matter what, Charlie knew she was gonna walk out, and we knew other people who were going to walk out. So we then decided to organize this so it can be as safe as possible and people can express themselves without getting in danger," he said. 

This event is the second walkout held at Blair since Trump's second inauguration. The Blair chapter of Students for Asylum and Immigration Reform (Students F.A.I.R) organized a protest of ICE's actions last June, but a lack of change in actions taken by ICE and the current administration pushed people across the nation, including Blair students, to protest on the anniversary of the inauguration. At this walkout, many Blair students voiced their beliefs that ICE's actions are both immoral and illegal, including freshman Lidia Amare. "I feel like [ICE] are terrorists and they shouldn't just be kidnapping people off the street… it's very unjust."

Immigration is an incredibly important topic to many students at Blair, including senior Xiamara Cox, who explained how she feels personally threatened and stressed by ICE's actions, and isn't sure how to keep herself safe. "I'm Hispanic, so I feel very targeted. I worry about my birth mother who's away… it makes me stressed out that I don't know what's going on and I can't talk to her," she said. "It's stressful to just walk outside and [wonder], should I bring my passport with me? How can I best protect myself in a place where we should just be able to go down the street and not worry about getting snatched up?"

Almazor himself also expressed that he had personal motivations compelling him to act, and that his motivation to protest ICE's illegal deportations came from concern for his community. "I'm Haitian-American. My dad was not born in the U.S. He was born in Haiti, and I lived in Haiti for a long time, too… lots of people I know are not American citizens. They came here on the Biden program, which is, this big program that happened in Haiti to send people to the U.S [legally]. And my dad, he lost his job because of the Trump administration. I knew something had to be done, something had to be said, and today was the day," he explained. 

Blair's administration also played a role in the walkout. Staff stood on the sidewalk around the school grounds to make sure protesters were safe from any potential threats. Almazor expressed gratitude towards Blair's administrative staff for protecting their students' right to organize. "I want to thank the administration and people who gave their time to us, because students, they couldn't do this themselves. It's really unsafe with ICE in the area." 

Protests like this afternoon's walkout are a vital part of free speech rights in America and play a crucial role in immortalizing people's views on current events as well as building community, as junior Jaiden Bravo explained. "This matters. This is history right here. And I''ll gladly be a part of history if it means better rights for the people, better rights for our community, our neighbors."