Conant High students walk out to protest deportations
About 50 Conant High School students walked out of their last class period Friday to march in front of the Hoffman Estates school protesting threatened deportations of Hispanic immigrants.
Soliciting honks from passing vehicles on Plum Grove Road, they held signs with such slogans as “No Human Is Illegal,” “Keep Families Together,” and “My Parents Fought For My Future, Now I Will Fight For Theirs.”
Among the chants they recited while walking to the intersection of Higgins Road and back were, “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”
“It needed to be done,” student Night Capone said of the walkout. “Action needs to be taken.”
Fellow student Ed Arthurs said she’d never joined a protest before but wanted to support her friends.
Another student who said she preferred to remain anonymous said, “A lot of our friends are being heavily impacted. It’s very important for us that families stay together. A lot of what we’re seeing is not what the people want, especially the youth. People don’t want to acknowledge it, but not acknowledging it is one of the worst things you can do.”
Two more girls said they’d joined the walkout because they were of Mexican descent, with one adding that her parents are going through a tough time right now.
The students were joined by a few adult members of the organization Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, including Executive Director Cristobal Cavazos.
“I think it’s so beautiful, the soul of these students,” Cavazos said. “These children have a much more developed sense of justice than I do. You can always tell there’s a civil rights movement when students are walking out of school. They’re saying they love their friends. They don’t want to see them terrorized or deported.”
Cavazos added that he’s heard of more protests across the area on the horizon.
The Conant High School walkout remained orderly and peaceful, coming to a close just as the yellow buses were lining up at the end of the class period.
It was unclear late Friday whether any disciplinary action would be taken against the students who didn’t attend classes to join the protest.
Federal immigration enforcement campaigns have been limited in the suburbs so far. Many police agencies have told federal authorities they will not participate or cooperate with any federal immigration enforcement activities.