TOPEKA (KSNT) – Topeka high school students are joining in on a nationwide protest movement Tuesday against federal immigration enforcement.
Students marched out of Topeka High School around 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 and began marching towards the Kansas Statehouse building. Signs held by many students bear messages critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions and President Donald Trump.
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We reached out to USD 501 for comment on this situation. USD 501 spokesman Aarion Gray provided the following message to 27 News which was issued by Topeka High School Principal Dustin Dick.
“We are aware that some students planned to participate in a walkout during the school day this afternoon. Please note that this is not a school-sanctioned activity.
While we respect and support students’ rights to express their views, students are expected to remain in class during the instructional day. Any student who leaves class or is not present during scheduled class time will be marked absent or tardy in accordance with school attendance policies.
We appreciate your support in reinforcing the importance of attendance and learning while also encouraging respectful and appropriate expression of student voice.”
Topeka High School Principal Dustin Dick
Topeka High School students walk out of their school and begin marching towards the Kansas Statehouse building on Jan. 20. (Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
Topeka High School students stand holding signs at the Kansas Statehouse on Jan. 20. (Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
Tekarrie Calton, a Topeka High School student who participated in the demonstration, said it is important to hold protests against things people don’t agree with. She said around 400 or more students left their classrooms to join the demonstration and march to the Kansas Statehouse.
“We’re protesting ICE being in our, like, getting people, detaining people in our town, in Topeka and in Lawrence and Kansas City, because Kansas City is really struggling with ICE right now,” Calton. “And we just believe that immigrants are really a standard part of, like, America as a whole. We had immigrants all the way back to when it was founded.”
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ICE has received criticism in recent weeks for its enforcement of immigration laws across the nation. Many people have voiced their opposition to ICE recently following the deadly shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
Trump took office for his second term one year ago on Jan. 20. More than 800 walkouts have reportedly been planned nationwide.
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