PUEBLO, Colo. (KOAA) — High school students across Pueblo walked out of classes Thursday afternoon to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, with demonstrations taking place at multiple locations throughout the city.
Students from Centennial High School and County High School gathered on Highway 50 and Baltimore, while others rallied at B Street and area libraries. The coordinated walkouts involved multiple schools from both District 60 and District 70.
"It's our responsibility that when we get an opportunity like this to come together with other schools and show that we want is for ICE to get out of our towns and stop doing these things to these families," Sahara Russell said.
The students said they organized the protests in response to ICE actions in Minnesota and expressed concerns that similar enforcement could come to Pueblo.
"My family's pretty scared. I mean, I have Mexicans in my family. It's hard for us to go walk around without somebody looking at us maybe like we get scared because we always have to look around our shoulders seeing if there's somebody looking at us weird," Andrew Gonzalez Armenta said.
Some students continued their demonstration along the Riverwalk after the initial rally. Parents also showed up to support their children's activism.
"They wanna make sure that they share with the community how much they're hurting regarding the issues of ICE in our communities, and they wanna make sure that people in the migrant community know that they're supported and loved so we're here to support our kids," Velia Rincon said.
Some schools involved include Centennial High School, Central High School, Pueblo East High School, and Pueblo County High School.
"You've got to love the family. Everybody here is family. We're all supporting each other. We're all fighting for the same thing," Damian Garcia said.
Students said they felt compelled to take action when they believed adults weren't doing enough.
"We want to make a difference. If you guys aren't going to do it, we're going to fight for what we believe," Noah White said.
District 60 issued a statement before the walkout saying they support students' First Amendment rights but would prefer students stay in school.
This is the statement from D70:
"This activity is not sanctioned by District 70. Our focus remains on student learning and maintaining a safe secure school environment. Classes continue as scheduled and students are expected to remain in their school buildings and participate in the regular instructional day.
The district respects students’ rights to express themselves and will continue working with school administrators to reinforce expectations and support a positive learning environment."
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