Hundreds of Inland Empire students walked out of classes this week — including hundreds on Thursday, Jan. 29, in Riverside — to protest immigration enforcement operations and President Donald Trump‘s mass deportation initiative.
Since Tuesday, Jan. 27, student-led walkouts to rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity were reported in cities including Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana and Ontario.
About 200 students from Poly High School in Riverside walked out of classes Thursday, Jan. 29. Students were seen moving along Central and Victoria avenues outside the campus, holding signs and collectively chanting “ICE out.”
“Stop pretending your racism is patriotism,” one student’s sign read.
Riverside Unified School District spokesperson Andrew Shortall said students returned to class shortly after 11 a.m.
While students take to the streets to voice their opinions, backers of Trump’s immigration policy say the deportations are needed to remove violent criminals who pose a threat to others and to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.
In Rancho Cucamonga, videos posted to TikTok showed students from Etiwanda, Alta Loma and Rancho Cucamonga high schools protesting on the corner of Foothill and Day Creek boulevards on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Some waved flags, another had a cardboard cutout of Trump.
“Three rival schools protested together,” the TikTok post said.
More protests are planned for Friday, Jan. 30, during a “nationwide shutdown” urging activists not to show up for classes, work, and calling for an end to funding immigration enforcement. Protests have erupted in Minneapolis and nationwide, with many calling for for an end to ICE tactics after the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti.
An action guide put together by Somali and Black student organizations in Minneapolis encourages students to walk out Friday “to protest ICE terror in our communities.”
“While Congress is debating giving ICE even more money, it’s time to take our movement to the next level. ICE has kidnapped our neighbors and classmates; they do not make our communities more safe. We demand ICE out for good,” the guide states. “Students are always at the heart of movements for justice across the world.”
A letter from officials in the Coachella Valley Unified School District encourages parents to speak with their children “about making thoughtful and responsible choices during the school day.”
It was unclear if other Inland school districts had sent similar messages to parents and community members.
