LAKELAND — As fourth-period classes were being held at Kathleen High School, dozens of students clustered about half a mile away in a parking lot on Wabash Avenue.
Some draped Mexican flags over their shoulders or clutched miniature flags. Others held handmade posters bearing such messages as “Families belong together,” “Immigrants built America” and “Love foreigners as you love yourselves.”
The students walked out of class after third period to show opposition to the Trump Administration’s aggressive deportation efforts. Students said they joined the loosely organized protest, even though school administrators warned that they might be suspended.
“It’s worth it,” said Analiah Ramirez Montanez, a junior. “How are you going to suspend me for talking about what’s wrong? And we’re doing it peacefully. We did it right before class so we were not disturbing class time. We didn’t argue with the teachers. We politely left the classroom.”
The Kathleen students joined a national movement intended to show disapproval of President Donald Trump’s policies and the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. Some of the students held signs saying “F— ICE,” and some called out that phrase as they left the parking lot and marched on the sidewalk toward Memorial Boulevard.
In a possible indication of their vulnerable legal status, some students covered their faces with flags or signs as a reporter took photos.
Students learned about the planned action through social media posts, Ramirez said.
State agency issued warning
The walkout came days after Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas posted on social media, “We will not tolerate educators encouraging school protests and pushing their political views onto students, especially ones that disparage law enforcement.”
Kamoutsas sent an email Feb. 3 to school superintendents, which Polk County Public Schools forwarded to staff members. Kamoutsas wrote that schools districts “have a responsibility to ensure that any protest activity does not interrupt instructional time, school operations and campus safety. “
He added: “Administrators and instructional staff must not encourage, organize, promote, or facilitate student participation in protest activity during the school day. Any conduct by school or district personnel that diverts students from instruction, undermines classroom authority, or compromises student supervision violates professional responsibilities and warrants disciplinary action.”
Kamoutsas directed superintendents to share the message with their staffs and with parents.
“I further expect that you address any violations of policy, by either students or staff, promptly and appropriately,” he wrote.
Along with the warnings from Kathleen High School administrators, some students said that Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies threatened to arrest them as they were leaving class and walking across the campus on the north side of Memorial Boulevard.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported no arrests Feb. 12 at Kathleen High School.
About 11 a.m., at least 50 students were gathered in the parking lot at Sterling Plaza on Wabash Avenue. Some stood on the sidewalk, facing traffic and holding posters, and some drivers responded with honks of apparent encouragement.
A white coupe carrying flags of both the United States and Mexico repeatedly drove past, as the driver beeped and waved.
The students congregated near a food stand, Taqueria El Primo. Jose Torres, a sophomore, said he and friends passed out water to other students at the gathering. A driver stopped and provided students with soft drinks and water, he said.
Ramirez, 17, said she has Puerto Rican and Dominican ancestry. About half of students at Kathleen High are either Latino or Black, Ramirez said. Many of the teachers are immigrants, she said, including her favorite instructor, who immigrated from an African nation.
Paula Lucas, a junior, said administrators warned the students leaving campus that they would be arrested if they returned.
Ramirez said that a Polk County sheriff’s vehicle followed the students after they left school and walked to the parking lot on Wabash Avenue, parking across the street. The vehicle had apparently left by the time a reporter arrived.
The school sent emails saying that any students who walked out would face possible expulsion, one student said.
“They threatened to fire teachers as well, for letting students walk out,” Nina Matute, a junior, said, possibly in reference to the statement from Florida’s commissioner of education.
District: Students face discipline
“Several students at Kathleen High did jump a fence and open a gate to leave campus today as part of an apparent demonstration,” Polk County Public Schools spokesperson Jason Geary said in an email. “It is important that we emphasize that we never allow students to leave campus in this manner, since it presents a major safety issue for both the students involved and those remaining on the campus. As a result, the students involved at KHS will be disciplined in accordance with our Code of Conduct.”
Geary said that parents and guardians received a message last week on behalf of Kamoutsas regarding student walkouts and protest activity.
“As outlined in that guidance, students retain their First Amendment rights, including the right to peaceful expression; however, those rights do not permit actions that disrupt the school campus, interfere with other students or staff, or impede normal school operations,” Geary said. “Schools are required to protect instructional time, campus safety, and orderly operations.”
Speaking excitedly and often overlapping each other, the students recited various reasons for opposing the actions of ICE.
“This is stolen land,” one said, referring to the United States.
“America’s first language was Spanish,” another said.
“We’re protesting because them taking away our parents and our family is messing up our education,” Ramirez said. “People came here legally and are still currently getting taken away because (President Donald) Trump decides that we are not humans, that we are monkeys, that we are aliens.”
Lucas said that her grandparents migrated from Mexico and now operate a successful produce company. Even after decades in the United States, she said they and many legal residents of Latino descent remain frightened of immigration officers.
“You have people crossing the border to come and make the world better,” Lucas said. “I mean, without immigrants, where would America be? America was built on immigrants.”
“Without immigrants, the houses wouldn’t be built,” Matute said. “Your electricity wouldn’t be flowing, because a lot of people that are not of color do not want to do the jobs that immigrants do. They are very hard working, and that’s what people don’t seem to understand. Because if all immigrants were deported, who, who’s going to build the houses?”
Students: Parents approved actions
All of the students interviewed said their parents approved of their plans to walk out of class.
“Some of them are really proud that we get to speak for them because, I mean, they can’t come out and speak because — you already know the drill,” Lucas said.
“Our generation is the one that has to speak up and change things,” said Matute, whose family is from Honduras.
The students were asked whether ICE should remove people who entered the country without authorization.
“Unless they are actually criminals — then, OK — but if they are hard-working people coming to give their families a better opportunity, I don’t see why they shouldn’t be given a chance,” Matute said.
“I’m a daughter of two immigrants, and this is why I came out here,” said Ariana Alarcon, a petite freshman. “My grandparents, they have a really big company and everything. My cousin’s out here, and we’re supporting all the immigrants, and we’re just here to protest.”
A woman wearing purple scrubs stood in the parking lot, shooting video of the students with her phone. The woman, who did not give her name, said that her son, a ninth-grader, was among the group who walked out at Kathleen High.
The woman said she was driving past and stopped to make sure all of the students were safe. She was asked whether she was worried her son and other students might be punished for leaving school.
“Of course, but they don’t doing nothing illegal,” she said. “They’re doing it peacefully,” the woman said. “They don’t hurt nobody. They just want to express themselves.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Kathleen High students walk out to protest mass deportations
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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