Tacoma, WA – On February 6, 375 students walked out from Washington High School and Keithley Middle School before the final class period of the day, joining the movement of students across the country who are standing up to ICE.

As the bell rang students began to gather outside in the sun holding Mexican, Guatemalan, Puerto Rican, Columbian, Brazilian and Honduran flags. Washington High School junior Madyson Smith addressed her fellow classmates with a Puerto Rican flag around her neck saying, they were all together to “stand up for not only our Hispanic community, but everyone else who is affected.”

This action is one of many in the greater Tacoma area. In recent weeks. There have been many walkouts at high and middle schools including at Franklin Pierce, Graham-Kapowskin, Stadium, Silas, Annie Wright, Rogers and more.

“Our community in Tacoma/Parkland is in fear of ICE. Washington High School is a very diverse campus with almost 40% of students being Hispanic,” Smith said. “We want our school district to be more aware of what’s going on and practice our anti-ICE policies more and make school a safe space for students!”

In preparation for the walkout students had sign-making parties and meetings with supporters. They tasked local organizations including Pierce County Immigration Alliance (PCIA), Climate Alliance South Sound (CASS), Philippines US Solidarity Organization (PUSO) Tacoma, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), and Rainier View Christian Church with ways to materially support them, including providing snacks and water and on-the-ground support.

When asking FRSO member Ari Pahoundis why they showed up to support they shared, “It's so inspiring to see the next generation of organizers taking to the streets to speak out for their community. These students are going to be out here either way, and we have a responsibility to do what we can to support them.”

A group of volunteers helped block off a side road from incoming traffic so that the students could safely march from the parking lot towards the main road. One of those volunteers, Nick Miskogwane, member of PCIA Teamsters 313 said, “I think it’s crucial we support and teach our youth the importance of free speech and democracy – for [them] to learn the power they have.”

The electric crowd of students marched farther than originally planned, fearlessly taking over a lane on the main road and totaling 1.2 miles round trip. Parents and community members drove by honking and waving flags in support and many joined on foot to help direct traffic. Madyson, Felix, and more helped lead their classmates in chants including, “No justice! No peace! Get ICE off our streets!”

The march wrapped up with students arriving back on campus to catch their buses, greeted by supportive parents and staff. Students also continued to celebrate their cultures, playing Mexican music and dancing Huapango in the parking lot.

An on-the-ground volunteer with CASS and local doula Jessica Whitson said, “These kids will be adults soon and they should have their voices heard and get a say about the systems that impact them. They were brave and energized, marching together making it loud and clear they want ICE off their streets. The teachers that know these kids were so incredibly proud of their students, many shedding tears of joy as the kids marched and made their voices heard.”

When asked about the impact this action had on her fellow classmates, organizer Smith said, “Students before the protest were in a stage of fear — kids weren’t coming to school. After the protest everyone is hyped and lowkey happy about how it turned out.”

#TacomaWA #WA #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #HighSchool #PCIA #PUSO #FRSO #CASS

Tacoma, WA – On Monday, February 2, hundreds of students walked out of Stadium High School and marched to nearby Wright Park to fight back against ICE. Stadium is one of several high schools in the Tacoma area that coordinated a walk-out in protest of ICE on February 2.

“I was sick and tired of coming to school every day and hearing my friends talk about how they cry themselves to sleep, afraid that their families will be taken from them,” said one of the students who organized the event.

Students led chants of “No hate, no fear, no one is illegal here!” and “I-C-E, K-K-K, I-O-F, they're all the same!”, and held signs with messages such as “ICE out now!” and “Melt ICE.” For many people who attend the school, the attacks from ICE have hit close to home.

“I had a family friend actually get taken a couple weeks ago,” said Jack Tolliver, a student attending the rally. “What they're doing, it's not humane, it's not civil. It's just not fair.”

Tacoma residents have seen an increase in ICE sightings across the city, often in neighborhoods with a high concentration of oppressed nationalities.

“We decided to walk out today because I have lots of friends and family that are getting kicked out and getting arrested. I don't stand for that stuff, neither does my family. And I want to help support everybody,” said Addison Werner, another student attending the walk-out.

When asked about next steps, students expressed that they intend to continue fighting back to get ICE out of Tacoma. “I think I actually might show up to the Kick ICE Out of Tacoma thing,” Tolliver said, referring to an upcoming Pierce County Immigration Alliance (PCIA) rally at Tacoma City Council.

#TacomaWA #WA #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #HighSchool #PCIA

Seattle, WA – In the early morning hours of June 10, activists and community members gathered at the courtyard of the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle in solidarity with the rebellion in LA and against deportations.

The federal building is the site of the area’s immigration court where ICE has been detaining and disappearing people before they can seek legal counsel or contact their loved ones.

The rally was organized by the Pierce County Immigration Alliance, Students for a Democratic Society, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and 50501 Washington.

The crowd’s chants penetrated the building’s walls and went into the offices. The building refused entry to legal observers from the Washington State Immigrant Solidarity Network (WASIN) on dubious legal grounds.

The day kicked off with speakers from the organizations represented, with a particularly moving and powerful speech delivered by Riley, a member of the Pierce County Immigration Alliance as well as FRSO Tacoma.

Riley said, “The people have answered the call! Across the country immigrants are being dragged into unmarked cars; Chicanos are being racially profiled for speaking Spanish; people are bound, shackled, ripped away from their families; they are thrown into countries where they are persecuted, threatened, assaulted and fear for their lives! Shame!”

She continued, “The government is refusing to even play by its own stacked rules. The struggle against this tyranny intensifies with every deportation; the need for action grows stronger by the hour, and the cry for justice can be heard around the country and around the world! The brutality of the state will not be met with passivity. We say, ‘No more!’”

After the main rally, activists covered every entrance to the building. They directed anyone entering for immigration court hearings to a table manned by WASIN that provided legal resources. They also gave the opportunity for people to give their information so the advocates could aid them if they are arrested by ICE.

As the day stretched on, the crowd grew. Through Super Familia, an ICE monitoring and information network, it was learned that several detainments had been made. In response, protesters improvised barricades on every vehicle exit, using rentable scooters and bikes and zip ties.

A standoff with ICE had begun.

The building was shut down and the workday cut short, leaving only ICE and its detainees inside, and only the militant crowd outside.

Eventually, the tension reached its breaking point. The Seattle Police Department instigated clashes between officers and protesters. The cops savagely beat the crowd, and, in the commotion, agents were able to exfiltrate the detainees.

Despite this, the occupation stretched on into the night.

The next morning, protesters arrived at City Hall to pressure the local government to allow legal observers back into the court, which was successful.

When observers entered, they discovered that ICE was nowhere to be found in the building. The exhaustion and struggle the night before halted their efforts at the court.

That day, all those who had hearings at the immigration court were granted additional time to seek counsel and resources, regardless of the decisions made. This was an unheard of state of affairs. The militancy from the night before had successfully pushed the court into greater leniency, and in the continuing occupation of the building the workday was once again cut short after hearings were finished.

At around 8:30 p.m. the crowd at the federal building were joined by a large marching contingent that had started from Cal Anderson Park, bolstering the numbers significantly. Protesters numbered well into the hundreds, and the entire block was taken over.

An impromptu bonfire was started in the street and American flags were burned to raucous applause. Graffiti denouncing ICE and its reign of terror covered every surface.

Later into the night a large contingent of Seattle police arrived and began blocking off roads, and eventually moved in to confront the crowd. After a short skirmish, police gained enough ground to put out the bonfire before protesters pushed them into a retreat. Protesters set up an improvised barricade on the street they stood on. Another push by the police, accompanied by beatings and chemical sprays, resulted in a return to the previously held line.

Members of the community looked out for each other, flushed eyes, carried the wounded to evacuation cars, and administered first aid. Eventually, after many successive pushes by the cops, the protest was dispersed just after 11 p.m.

Unfortunately for the cops and the ICE agents they are defending, the people of Seattle are only getting started. These first two days of clashes resulted from a spontaneous coalition of activists and militants, and they’re actively working together to get more organized, more strategic, and more effective. The lessons learned already will inform an even greater and more coordinated response going into the future.

The people of Seattle have answered the call, alongside nearly every major city in the United States. From the spark in Los Angeles a great fire rises, and the people are standing side by side to make the U.S. ungovernable.

#SeattleWA #WA #ImmigrantRights #WASIN #PCIA #SDS #FRSO #ICE