Students at Ramapo and Spring Valley High Schools in East Ramapo Central School District and Nyack High School in Nyack Union-Free School District walked out of class around 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in protest of recent immigration crackdowns in Rockland County and beyond.
In East Ramapo, fears of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns are far from unfamiliar in the diverse school district. According to state education data, 78% of students in East Ramapo are Latino or Hispanic; 60% are considered English language learners. School board members have discussed concerns that students are afraid to attend school.
The Village of Nyack has also seen an increase in Latino immigrant populations in the last decade. Nyack school district’s public school population is 36% Hispanic or Latino, according to New York State Education Department data; 12% of students are English language learners.
‘I’m not going to stay silent’
As Nyack students walked down Route 9W, clamoring up snowbanks waving flags and signs, trucks honked their horns and residents stood on balconies clapping in support.
More than 100 students packed into snow-covered bleachers outside of Nyack’s MacCalman Field, now used by Rockland BOCES, with signs, speakers, bullhorns and noisemakers. Meanwhile, some Nyack High School students took their own cars out of the school lot to show support by honking and waving down Route 9W.
“If your skin is brown or black you fit the description of an animal or a criminal. But you’re not a criminal if you shoot the mother of a 6-year-old. You’re a criminal if you’ve helped build this country, which immigrants have done, but you’re not a criminal if you shoot an ICU nurse,” Kristine Rivera Lopez, 17 said. “You’re a good person if you detain a 5-year-old, but you’re dangerous for protesting equal human rights,
“It doesn’t make sense and I’m not going to stay silent,” Rivera Lopez continued. “I will continue to speak up for my family, for my parents and every immigrant family who has been told that they do not belong here.”
One Nyack student, Alex Galdamez Rodriguez, 18, said he was there to protest the detainment of his own father last year. According to Rodriguez, he received a call from his mother the afternoon of Oct. 29, saying that his father had been detained in the village.
“My dad was held in a detention center for three weeks,” Rodriguez said. “He was in there without a phone call or a lawyer. It was horrible.”
Galdamez Rodriguez’s father has since been released, but he and his friends say they are still “fired up” to stand for their community.
“No one deserves to be treated inhumanely, simply for the color of their skin or for having an accent when they speak. Besides, you cannot preach empathy when it only applies to who you think is deserving of it,” said Paoly Lopez Murillo, 17, a Nyack High School student. “We are here today because we want to see a change for the families who suffer through injustices that others consider ‘righteous’ or ‘lawful’. St. Augustine once said an unjust law is no law at all. And just because actions carried out by ICE are backed by the law, doesn’t mean they are fair.”
Nyack student organizers said their movement started with coming to school with shirts that read “End ICE” and other pro-immigrant sentiments. Soon, it grew into protests at Hezekiah Easter Square on Main Street and through the streets of the village.
“We had about 50 kids at the first one we had and about 30 kids at the last one,” said Silas Edla, 16, of Nyack. “I’ve seen kids out here that I would never expect to be involved in politics or even care, because either they’re not informed or they just have grown this kind of apathy to what’s going on around them. I’m glad that we were able to break that and get them out here.”
“It only took one person to step forward and break that bystander effect for everybody else to follow and do the same,” said Zeina Ayyoub, 17.
Skipping lessons to ‘teach others a lesson’
At Ramapo and Spring Valley high schools, the walkouts had shifted to the end of the school day, starting at 1:05. Buses began arriving just after 1:30 p.m. to pick students up for the end of the day.
During the walkout, hundreds of Spring Valley High School students filled parking lots and other campus areas, carrying flags of South and Central American countries and signs protesting ICE. Whistles and shouts could be heard from the crowd.
At Ramapo High School, hundreds of students came to the edge of the bus entrance along Viola Road, cheering as passing vehicles honked in support.
“We’re skipping our lesson so we can teach others a lesson,” a student who asked to be identified only as Lhia said. The Journal News/lohud.com is withholding some identifying information on minors for this story for safety reasons.
Rockland County students drew inspiration not just from protests in Minnesota and across the country against ICE, but from their fellow students at other districts. Students at White Plains High School and Haldane High School in Cold Spring have staged walkouts, as well as neighbor students at North Rockland High School in Thiells. Students at New Rochelle High School are expected to walk out during a similar protest some time over the next few days.
For school districts across the region, the main concern of administrations was students’ safety outside of campus jurisdiction.
East Ramapo Central School District’s interim superintendent, Ana Reluzco, sent a Feb. 10 letter to the school community explaining that the rallies were unsanctioned, that students were to stay on campus and that any absence from class would be counted.
“Our primary concern is the safety and supervision of all students. If a student leaves the Spring Valley or Ramapo high school campuses during the school day, the District and the school cannot be responsible for their safety once they are off campus,” Reluzco’s letter states.
“We respect and acknowledge students’ First Amendment rights to express their views and are committed to fostering student voice and advocacy,” she continued. “However, it is important for students and families to understand that any time a student is absent from class, standard school attendance policies apply.”
According to East Ramapo Director of Security Tom Carton, “the students did a great job at being respectful.”
East Ramapo school board trustee Sabrina Charles-Pierre was at Ramapo High observing the lesson in civil disobedience. “I always tell the students, they have a voice,” Charles-Pierre said, “and they need to use it.”
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Students at 3 Rockland schools walk out to protest ICE
Reporting by Alexandra Rivera, Nancy Cutler and Tania Savayan, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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