Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools Students Walk Out to Protest Federal Immigration Enforcement

Students March in Lincoln Square on Cold February Day

Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools students walked out of several high schools on a Monday in February and marched in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago to protest federal immigration enforcement and President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign. The students gathered in cold, snowy conditions to demonstrate in support of immigrant communities.

Participants included students from multiple CPS high schools such as Mather, Northside College Prep, Roosevelt, Amundsen and Von Steuben. They left their schools at about noon and marched through neighborhood streets toward River Park. During the walkout and march, motorists honked their car horns and some nearby residents cheered and waved flags from their windows as the students passed.

Calls for Change in Federal Immigration Practices

As they marched, students carried flags from Mexico, the United States and other countries. They called for federal immigration officers to leave Chicago and other cities and joined broader demands for the abolishing of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Marchers also urged an end to what they described as aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics.

Students chanted messages in Spanish directed at ICE while moving through the Lincoln Square area toward River Park. Chicago high schoolers also voiced concern about how immigration enforcement affects their families and communities. The protest in Chicago occurred on the same Monday that similar student demonstrations took place in other states.

Individual Students Voice Concerns and Encourage Voting

Angelique Guzman, a student at Mather High School, joined the protest against aggressive federal immigration enforcement. She referred to a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued the previous September that allowed immigration agents to use race and language as factors in stopping and questioning people. Guzman said she continued to worry about her family despite their legal immigration status because of how immigration agents may use race and language in their decisions.

Guzman also encouraged young people who are eligible to vote to participate in the upcoming congressional midterm elections. She told fellow students that they should exercise their right to vote at this time.

Another participant, 18-year-old Krystal Portilla, a senior at Amundsen High School, joined hundreds of other CPS students in the walkout on Monday. She described being affected when federal immigration agents appeared in large numbers in Chicago the previous year, linking those events to fears she had experienced during President Trump’s first term while her father was seeking legal permanent residency.

Confirmed Outcomes of the Walkout

The walkout resulted in hundreds of Chicago teens leaving classes around midday and marching through Lincoln Square to River Park. Students publicly called for immigration agents to leave Chicago, demanded changes to federal enforcement, and encouraged voter participation in the forthcoming congressional midterm elections. The demonstration added Chicago high school students’ voices to a wider series of protests that occurred in multiple states on the same day.